Green buildings are sited, designed, constructed, and operated to benefit the environment and provide healthier places for people to work, live, and visit. The most successful green buildings integrate sustainable site planning, energy and water efficiency, materials and resources conservation, and human health--resulting in a healthy and high performance building.

Why design green buildings?  Buildings impact the environment and community through resource consumption, air pollution, and waste generation.  A few staggering statistics for commercial and residential buildings include:

Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors.

Buildings consume 36% of U.S. energy, 65% of U.S. electricity.

12% of potable water in the U.S. is consumed through construction and operation of buildings.

Buildings produce about 30% of the nation’s carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

About 4 billion pounds of carpet is land-filled every year.

Approximately 136 million tons of construction and demolition (C&D) waste is generated every year.

Benefits

Green building is not a new way of building; it is just a smarter way of building. The benefits of green building are commonly grouped into three categories--economic, environmental, and social. These benefits include:

Economic

• Competitive first costs
• Reduction in operating costs
• Improvements in employee productivity and satisfaction
• Increased asset value and profits
• Optimization of life-cycle economic performance

• Conservation of natural resources
• Increased use of renewable energy sources
• Improvements in air and water quality
• Reduction of solid waste generation

• Improved occupant comfort and health
• Higher productivity
• Reduced impact on local resources and infrastructure
• Use of recycled/reused materials