Relation between Green Buildings and Sustainable Development Practices

Abstract

Sustainable development is an important aspect of society which fulfills the present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It gives us a new way of thinking through and managing human impact on the world that can generate long lasting positive results for the greater benefit of human societies. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are discussed and analyzed from different theoretical perspectives. The alternative paradigms and main objectives which provide supporting sustainable development are explored. They show the complexity of choosing the right actions towards sustainable development. And, the three pillars of sustainable development which are social, economic and environmental should be considered together to achieve the effective planning for sustainable future through a collaboration of experts from different disciplines. International goals of sustainability have led to the development of the green building movement that has had unprecedented success. Sustainable development and green buildings are often used interchangeably. Although, they are related, they are not the same. There are many green building rating systems over the world. United States Green Building Council administered Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) is the global market leader in the rating systems. LEED is a laudable and has a great effort in moving towards sustainable development by converting the built environment into green. Furthermore, some other rating systems that have been developed to measure the sustainability level of green buildings and provide best practice experience in their highest certification level are illustrated. This paper aims to provide an overview of how green building relates to sustainable development practices which is divided into two sections. The first section defines green building and discusses what makes buildings green. And, the second section discusses the environmental impacts of traditional buildings and explains common green building practices.