Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction, 2nd Edition

Introduction

Green Building—Common Myths and Overview

The concept of sustainable development and green building is relatively new; indeed, over the past two decades it has become one the most researched and controversial topics in the field of property development and building design and construction generally. Yet even today a precise definition of what makes a building green tends to elude us. One definition offered by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) for green building is “the practice of 1) increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and 2) reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, ...