Importance of Green Building Certification

Importance of Green Building Certification

In the present world, the real estate industry continues to chuck on. But construction of new buildings which don’t meet certain standards have been proven to have a negative impact on the environment for many years. Hence, the society now leans on building certification bodies to 

design more environmentally conscious buildings, which in turn build communities.

But for that, buildings have to be made sustainable first. And, that’s where green buildings come into play. The U.S. EPA says “Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance building.” 

One may ask what are the benefits of green buildings? These include reduction of operation costs/creating market for integrating renewable energy, reduced wastage of water/conserving natural resources as well as improving quality of live/maximizing potential of human resources.

One such certification board is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). LEED is considered to be the premier certification body in the world. ’’Between 2015 and 2018, LEED-certified buildings in the United States are estimated to have $1.2 billion in energy savings, $149.5 million in water savings, $715.2 million in maintenance savings and $54.2 million in waste savings’’ (USGBC).