Green Building

Green building is the practice of:

# increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest Energy , Water , and Material s, and
# reducing building impacts on human health and The Environment , through better siting, Design , Construction , operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle. {Link without Title}
# grants and loans for remodels and builds are available for green buildings from private, state and federal agencies.
# Green Energy Building List and Google Map Is now available for the Public to put Green and Harmful Buildings both on the map.

Green building is an essential component of the related concepts of Sustainable Design , Sustainable Development and Sustainability .

In addition to sustainability, another common goal of green building is aesthetic harmony between a structure and the surrounding natural area.

GREEN BUILDING IN THE U.S.

U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council has developed influential definitions of what constitutes sustainable design of green buildings through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or and the USGBC formed the Canadian Green Building Council to adapt the LEED standard to the canadian reallity. The Green Building Council of Australia has its own green buildings standard known as Green Star [http://www.gbcaus.org].

Green Building Initiative

The Green Building Initiative™ is a non-profit network of building industry leaders committed to bringing green to mainstream residential and commercial construction. The GBI believes in building approaches that are environmentally progressive, but also practical and affordable for builders to implement.

Legislation

In 2005 , Washington became the first state in the U.S. to enact green building legislation. According to the law, all major public agency facilities exceeding 5,000 square feet (465 m²), including state funded school buildings, are required to meet or exceed LEED standards in construction or renovation. The projected benefits from such a law are