What is Green Building?

Green Building is a building practice that builds upon sustainable ecological and environmental principals creating a healthier indoor and outdoor environment.

Green building includes a wide array of stages in building through its life cycle from land- use, building design, and construction strategies that work to reduce adverse environmental consequences. Traditional buildings and construction practices typically neglect environmental consideration and often generate twice the amount of carbon dioxide than the average car per year. The EPA estimates that the average house is responsible for producing 22,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. According to the U.S. Department of Energy there are more than 76 million residential and nearly 5 million commercial buildings in the U.S. today accounting for one-third of the nation’s energy use and two-thirds of all the electricity. The benefits of green building include:

• Increased energy efficiency
• Increased water efficiency
• Conservation of natural resources
• Use of non-toxic materials
• Improved indoor air quality
• A healthier indoor environment
• Improved economic performance

Green Buildings use resources more efficiently allowing for savings in operation and simply an economically sensible means of construction. Many major companies have made significant returns by investing in green building as a means of operations including Wal-Mart, The Gap, Duracell and S.C. Johnson. Many city governments and federal government agencies such as the Defense Department are using stricter building standards for their economic and environmental benefits. Sustainable choices can add up to big savings, in some cases energy efficient designs and technologies can reduce energy costs by as much as 50%.

A national standard has been adopted as a means of measuring environmental performance and energy usage of buildings. The US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED tm) Green Rating System provides a standard of measurement that assess building performance based upon factors including: building materials, site location, design, energy and water efficiency, and indoor quality of the environment. It has become of recognizable standard for building efficiency among professionals.

Green Building is steadily gathering awareness and practice among designers, builders, and homeowners. There is a growing number of programs that are reporting successes and demonstrating that green building provides a higher standard for using resources efficiently and comfort.

According to the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, in the U.S. alone there are an estimated $15 billion worth of green buildings currently in design or under construction. This figure represents 12% to 15% of total public contruction and 2% of private construction. This industry is growing by as much as 75% annually.

Houston has 20 buildings that have been registered for LEED certification while Texas has over 80 currently being registered.