Buildings
Buildings have an extensive impact on the environment in terms of energy use, water consumption, electricity consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions. Traditional approaches to new construction, renovation, deconstruction, and operations and maintenance of buildings will do little to improve these statistics. However, education within the industry can influence positive change. For example, we can now dispel the common myth that sustainable design strategies necessitate exorbitant cost premiums. The vast majority of current research shows that a focus on integrated design, setting environmentally sustainable goals, a focus on materials reuse and recycling, and using full-cost accounting to measure return on investment are the crucial issues for successful green building projects -- not a bigger budget.
