The Growth of Green Building Over the Years
Green building, a concept introduced only a few decades ago, has grown immensely over the past years. The need to develop environment-friendly habits during a time of high energy and material consumption has encouraged governments to create policies that mandate green building practice. As a result of this effort, there has been a rapid increase in green buildings and a rapid development of innovative green ideas.
The first state to set green building requirements for new public buildings was Washington in 2005. A bill signed by former Governor Christine Gregoire requires all new major public facilities that will exceed 5,000 square feet to meet LEED standards. New York has been another major advocator for green building. Former governor George Pataki signed Executive Order No. III, meant to establish energy standards for buildings, which has been built upon over the years. Like in Washington, all new public buildings in New York are required to meet LEED standards as a result. The order also required state agencies to reduce the energy consumption of their buildings from the year 1990 by 35% by 2010. In addition, state agencies in New York must only use ENERGY STAR equipment when buying new equipment (Erpenbeck & Schiman, 2010). The progress of green building throughout the years can be additionally measured by observing the growth of LEED, the largest green building rating system in the United States. As of 2007, the number of buildings using the LEED building assessment system increased from 0 to 3,000 and the number of certified green buildings has grown from 0 to 300. Table 1 further illustrates green building’s growth in the United States from 1999 to 2005 using data from LEED (Kibert & Grosskopf, 2007). In terms of area, the United States Green Building Council reported that 667,600 square feet was green certified in 2000 and has grown to 500 million square feet in 2010 (Kontokosta, 2011).
Table 1: The Growth of Green Building from 1999 to 2005 in Terms of LEED Metrics, Source: Kibert, C., & Grosskopf, K. (2007). ENVISIONING NEXT-GENERATION GREEN BUILDINGS. Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, 23(1), 145-160. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42842944
As a new concept, green building has many areas it can be improved upon. One of the major goals in sustainable building is to create structures that self-provide the energy they need. Known as Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs), these buildings create the same amount of energy that they consume within a year. Although there have been buildings designed as net zero energy, none have fully met their intended levels of savings. In order to improve on the concept of Net Zero Energy Buildings, it is essential to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current designs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends identifying their benefits through their utility bills. Additional research about energy storage is also necessary to help implement this idea in large building areas. By 2025, the DOE hopes to have developed an effective method that produces cost-effective net zero energy buildings (Pless & Torcellini, 2009). Furthermore, to improve on the incorporation of green building ideas, it is important to educate society, from the engineer to the occupant, on the subject. With greater knowledge on green building, engineers will be more likely to create effective designs that are environment-friendly. It is recommended that engineers always discuss sustainable methods in design review meetings. Occupants of sustainable buildings should be taught how to use and care for green technologies in order to use them to their highest potential (Berardi, 2012).
References
Berardi, U. (2012). Sustainability assessment in the construction sector: rating systems and rated buildings. Sustainable Development, 20(6), 411-424.
Erpenbeck, M., & Schiman, C. (2010). ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF GREEN BUILDING. GPSolo, 27(2), 34-46. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23630127
Kibert, C., & Grosskopf, K. (2007). ENVISIONING NEXT-GENERATION GREEN BUILDINGS. Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, 23(1), 145-160. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42842944
Kontokosta, C. (2011). Greening the regulatory landscape: the spatial and temporal diffusion of green building policies in US cities. Journal of Sustainable Real Estate, 3(1), 68-90.
Pless, S., & Paul Torcellini PhD, P. E. (2009). Getting to net zero. ASHRAE Journal, 51(9), 18.
