Sustainable Design

Sustainability
The concept of sustainable building incorporates and integrates a variety of strategies during the design, construction and operation of building projects. The use of green building materials and products represents one important strategy in the design of a building. Green building materials offer specific benefits to the building owner and building occupants:

In 1993 at the World Congress of Architects, the American Institute of Architects/International Union of Architects presented the Declaration for a Sustainable Future, which outlines specific objectives to work on to obtain sustainable design (see www.e-architect.com and search for the AIA Sustainable Design Resource Guide).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology developed a software tool named Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) for balancing the environmental and economic performance of building products. This software uses the environmental life-cycle assessment approach specified in ISO 14000 standards. All stages in a product's life are analyzed: raw material acquisition, manufacture, transportation of materials and products, installation, use, and recycling and waste management. Economic performance is measured using the ASTM standard life cycle cost method, which covers the costs of initial investment, replacement, operation, maintenance and repair, and disposal. Environmental and economic performance are combined into an overall performance measure. (For more information, see www.nist.gov, and then search for software, "Building Economic Analysis.")

Online sustainable building and green building materials/criteria include:

Environmental Building News
http://www.buildinggreen.com

The International Institute for Sustainable Development.
http://iisd1.iisd.ca

A community organization working for a healthy environment and a just society.
http://www.thoreau.org

Great source for a long list of related links.
http://www.newenergy.org

Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selecting and Specification, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1999 by Ross Spiegel and Dru Meadows.

Information on a manual from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) titled, The Sustainable Building Technical Manual: Green Building Design, Construction and Operations.
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/freshstart/articles/ptipub.htm

Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.
http://www.sbicouncil.org

an independent nonprofit organization.
http://www.greenseal.org

Center for Environmental Mentoring.
http://www.mentor-center.org

Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology.
http://www.crest.org

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible.
http://www.ceres.org

Sustainable Business Insider.
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com

World Resources Institute.
http://www.wri.org

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