LEED CoreConcepts&Strategies_3rd edition - Page 010

Extracted Content

Our built environment is all around us; it provides the setting

for all our lives’ events, big and small. And whether we notice

it or not, our built environment plays a huge role in our natural

environment, our economic environment, and our cultural

environment. The built environment provides a context for facing

and addressing humankind’s greatest contemporary challenges.

Green building is fundamentally a process of continual improvement. It is a process by which today’s “best practices” become tomorrow’s standard practices, a rising foundation for ever-higher levels of performance. Green building can help us create more vital communities, more healthful indoor and outdoor spaces, and stronger connections to nature. The green building movement strives to effect a permanent shift in prevailing design, planning, construction, and operations practices, resulting in lower-impact, more sustainable, and ultimately regenerative built environments.

For the purposes of this guide, “built environment” refers to any environment that is man-made and provides a structure for human activity. These environments range from shelters and individual buildings to neighborhoods and vast metropolitan areas. This guide explains the reasons we must change traditional building practices. It presents fundamental concepts of green building and provides a summary of the application strategies that will help you be a more effective participant in the green building process.

The remainder of this section of the guide gives the rationale for green building and the related concept of sustainability. The core concepts of sustainable thinking are explored in Section 2. Section 3 looks at important components of the sustainable design and operations process. Section 4 reviews the application of green technologies and strategies. Section 5 offers more information on the programs of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), particularly the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system. Additional resources are listed in the Appendix, and educational opportunities to support your growth and success as a green building professional are available from USGBC at usgbc.org/education.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF BUILDINGS

Why is green building necessary? Buildings and communities, including the resources used to create them and the energy, water, and materials needed to operate them, have a significant effect on the environment and human health. In the United States, buildings account for:

•• 14% of potable water consumption [1]

•• 30% of waste output

•• 40% of raw materials use [2]

•• 38% of carbon dioxide emissions

•• 24% to 50% of energy use

•• 72% of electricity consumption [3]

1 J.F. Kenny, N.L. Barber, S.S. Hutson, K.S. Linsey, J.K. Lovelace, & M.A. Maupin. Estimated use of water in the United States in 2005: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1344, (2009). 2 D.M. Roodman & N. Lenssen “A Building Revolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns Are Transforming Construction,” Worldwatch Paper 124 (Worldwatch Institute, 1995). 3 Energy Information Administration, EIA Annual Energy Outlook (EIA, 2008).

3