What is Green Building?

History

The first green building program in the United States was created in 1991 in Austin, Texas. Pliny Fisk, the man behind that program defined green building or sustainable building in a most helpful way when he wrote:

Sustainability, according to Webster’s American Heritage Dictionary, is to keep in existence; maintain. As it relates to the world we live in, sustainability means meeting our present needs without compromising the needs of future generations. The sustainable approach recognizes the interaction of natural and technological systems on our planet, and seeks to minimize the adverse impacts of our everyday lives on the systems that support all life.
Sustainability implies that we look at and understand our local environment in terms of climate, natural resources, and human resources and improve our relationship with them without jeopardizing their future usefulness. Recognizing the nature of the interdependence of the human and natural environment is a key concept toward understanding sustainability. A sustainable approach encourages people to become a part of the natural flows and cycles of our world and not seeking to overpower them.

Other perspectives

Others have emerged to help us see green or sustainable building from a number of perspectives:

An architect, William McDonough, prepared The Hanover Principles, which are an attempt to look at the big picture of what will happen to our earth if we do not soon start using it in a more thoughtful manner.
Peter Yost of Building Science Corp. looks at green building from a scientist’s point of view. Science is the language humankind has created to describe our relationship to mother nature and her laws. If we try to build in violation of these laws, we inevitably experience building failure.
Rod Miner, Director of the Shelter Resources Institute, addresses the question of whether we can afford to not do green building. Many persons assume green building is more expensive. Rod helps us see the consequences of not building green.
David Eisenberg, Director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology in Tucson, AZ works with building officials who are administering the standards for the buildings we build. David has done more to introduce building officials to a green or sustainable building future than almost anyone else in this country. He now writes a regular column in Building Standards, the official publication of the International Conference of Building Officials (ICC), where Building a Sustainable Future first appeared.
Finally, as we work toward what it means to do green building in our bio- region, we can take comfort that we are not alone. Persons and cities in many other bioregions are sorting through their options and creating models that meet the particular needs of their bioregion. Peter Yost has recently prepared an article on what is happening around the country.

The time for green or sustainable building is here!





	History The first green building program in the United States was created in 1991 in Austin, Texas. Pliny Fisk, the man behind that program defined green building or sustainable building in a most helpful way when he wrote: Sustainability, according to Webster’s American Heritage Dictionary, is to keep in existence; maintain. As it relates to the world we live in, sustainability means meeting our present needs without compromising the needs of future generations. The sustainable approach recognizes the interaction of natural and technological systems on our planet, and seeks to minimize the adverse impacts of our everyday lives on the systems that support all life. Sustainability implies that we look at and understand our local environment in terms of climate, natural resources, and human resources and improve our relationship with them without jeopardizing their future usefulness. Recognizing the nature of the interdependence of the human and natural environment is a key concept toward understanding sustainability. A sustainable approach encourages people to become a part of the natural flows and cycles of our world and not seeking to overpower them. Other perspectives Others have emerged to help us see green or sustainable building from a number of perspectives: An architect, William McDonough, prepared The Hanover Principles, which are an attempt to look at the big picture of what will happen to our earth if we do not soon start using it in a more thoughtful manner. Peter Yost of Building Science Corp. looks at green building from a scientist’s point of view. Science is the language humankind has created to describe our relationship to mother nature and her laws. If we try to build in violation of these laws, we inevitably experience building failure. Rod Miner, Director of the Shelter Resources Institute, addresses the question of whether we can afford to not do green building. Many persons assume green building is more expensive. Rod helps us see the consequences of not building green. David Eisenberg, Director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology in Tucson, AZ works with building officials who are administering the standards for the buildings we build. David has done more to introduce building officials to a green or sustainable building future than almost anyone else in this country. He now writes a regular column in Building Standards, the official publication of the International Conference of Building Officials (ICC), where Building a Sustainable Future first appeared. Finally, as we work toward what it means to do green building in our bio- region, we can take comfort that we are not alone. Persons and cities in many other bioregions are sorting through their options and creating models that meet the particular needs of their bioregion. Peter Yost has recently prepared an article on what is happening around the country. The time for green or sustainable building is here!