Green Building Overview
Building green means designing and constructing buildings to provide healthy, resource-efficient and comfortable places to live, work and play.
Green building is not a new approach – for thousands of years, people built their structures out of local materials, using the sun for light and heat, and harvesting rainwater. Modern green design and building practices blend this ancient approach with recent technological advances. A green approach to building considers all phases of a project – site selection, design, site preparation, construction, furnishing, landscaping and removing a building at the end of its life. Green building practices integrate the following key elements:
- Smart site selection and development
- Energy efficiency and low carbon footprint
- Safe, healthy and comfortable indoor environments
- Durability, resource conservation and efficient use of materials
- Water conservation and sustainable stormwater management
- Beauty
Green Building Approaches
There are many ways to build green. You can incorporate green practices into any scale project – from replacing a water heater or remodeling a kitchen, to constructing a large commercial building.
To learn more, explore the following resources: