Buildings, whether residential, commercial, government, or special-use, are core components of the nation’s infrastructure. Their construction, operation, and demolition are increasingly recognized as major sources of environmental impact. Without significant transformation of building construction and operations, that impact is expected to increase with population growth and changes in other demographic and economic factors. One strategy for achieving that transformation is most widely known by the term green building. However, the term is used differently by various proponents and practitioners, denoting a continuum of practices, from those differing minimally from standard practices, to those aimed at providing buildings with a minimum of environmental impact.
In general, green building can be characterized as integrated building practices that significantly reduce the environmental footprint of a building in comparison to standard practices. Descriptions of green building generally focus on a number of common elements, especially siting, energy, water, materials, waste, and health. Serviceability or utility is also an explicit design element for a class of green buildings known as high-performance buildings.
One of the most salient features of green building is integration of the various elements. Although individual elements can be addressed separately, the green building approach is more comprehensive, focusing on the environmental footprint of a building over its life cycle, from initial design and construction to operations during the building’s useful life, through eventual demolition and its aftermath.
The desire to integrate the various elements of green building has led to the development of rating and certification systems to assess how well a building project meets a specified set of green criteria. The best-known system is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, it focuses on site, water, energy, materials, and indoor environment. Recently, green building practices have found their way into building model codes and technical standards.
Green building has received substantial attention from government, industry, and public interest groups. Several federal laws and executive orders have provisions relating to green building. Among these are the energy policy acts (EPACTs) of 1992 and 2005 (P.L. 102-486 and P.L. 109-58), the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), and Executive Order 13693. EISA and other policy instruments require all federal agencies to implement green building practices. However, several agencies have programs and activities that have a focus that goes beyond reducing the environmental impacts of the facilities used by that agency—for example, by performing research or facilitating the green-building activities of nonfederal entities. Among those agencies are the General Services Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Federal Sustainability, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development.
Green building raises issues relating to performance, cost, market penetration, and the approach itself. Among the questions Congress may face with respect to such issues are the following: How well are current green building programs working? How effective are current methods for coordinating the green building activities of different agencies? To what extent and by what means should Congress extend its efforts to facilitate and support the adoption and effective implementation of green building measures? What priorities should Congress give to the different elements of green building? What actions should Congress do to facilitate the growth of the scientific and technical knowledge base relating to green building?