Green building enthusiasts have made this phenomenon a major part
of the design and construction industry over the past ten years. Since 2000
the number of green buildings has grown from a handful to more than
5,000 projects in the US and over 400 in Canada actively seeking certiŠcation
of one kind or another at the end of 2006.1 This is the fastest-growing
phenomenon to hit the building industry since the Internet and perhaps
since air conditioning. I saw a need for a quick and accessible guide to
green buildings that could be used by a wide variety of people, one that is
technically accurate and up-to-date, without requiring a professional or technical background.
the basic concepts and terminology used in designing
and constructing green buildings, based on state-of-the-art design and
construction practices in 2007. It is designed for you, the intelligent reader,
who may not be actively engaged in architecture or building engineering,
but who needs a quick introduction to the rationale for green buildings
and the language of the Šeld. It will also be useful for public o‹cials; for
those dealing with green building or sustainability requirements from
within or outside your company, organization or agency; for those whose
livelihood depends on Šnancing, building and marketing commercial development
projects, and new residential subdivisions or multifamily projects;
for real estate brokers and agents; for people in the Šnance, insurance
and real estate industries; for senior executives in universities, government
agencies and large corporations who want to understand what all the fuss
is about; and for anyone who has an interest in turning the design, construction
and operation of buildings into amore environmentally responsible
activity.
The following chapters address several key questions:What is a green
building? Why are green buildings and green developments important
for the environmental and economic challenges we face early in the 21st century? What are the important new sustainable technologies that are
inšuencing the building industry? How do green products and green
buildings actually get designed and built?What can I do in my company,
my home andmy city to further the “green building revolution”?
Throughout the text, I rely on published data, current through early
2007.Most of this information is available fromsources such as the US and
Canada Green Building Councils, from papers at green building conferences,
from the Internet or from business or trade media. I have examined
several public and proprietary surveys, and I have beneŠted from personal
conversations with green building leaders to round out the roster of topics
important to understanding green buildings, green products and green
developments in the United States.
I have spent most of my career engaged in energy and environmental
aªairs,working tomake our current economy and way of lifemore appropriate
to long-term sustainability. As a student in California in 1970, I
helped organize the Šrst Earth Day, and I helped create the Šrst state-level
agency to promote solar energy, also in California. For the past ten years, I
have been involved in building design and construction on a daily basis,
and I’ve been active in the green building movement since 1999. I see my
role as a communicator between green building professionals and the
larger business and governmental public. I conceived of this book as a way
to accelerate the understanding of the importance of green buildings in
addressing the climate-change challenges of the early 21st century.
Each of us has an important role to play in transforming the building
and development industry into one that produces what most people say
they want from it: energy- and resource-e‹cient, environmentally sound,
healthy, comfortable and productive places to live,work, learn, experiment
and play.
Jerry Yudelson, P
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