Practical Sustainability Strategies, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 15Environmentally Effective Buildings

In 1981, Bill McDonough¹ started his architectural practice, and his first major commission was the design of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) headquarters in New York City in 1984 [1]. Being very concerned with the environment, EDF made a stipulation that the design of the building should provide the highest possible air quality for the benefit of the EDF employees. He was able to accomplish his goal while working with David Gottfried, a construction manager, and Michael Italiano, and environmental attorney.

During the next few years, David Gottfried and Michael Italiano continued their interest in environmentally efficient and effective buildings. They conducted many informal meetings with Rocky Mountain Institute, Green America, Carrier Corporation, Herman Miller, and Interface. In 1993, Gottfried, Italiano, and S. Richard “Rick” Fedrizzi, the marketing manager for Carrier's parent company, United Technologies Corporation, founded the US Green Building Council (USGBC) with Fedrizzi as the chair of the USGBC.

As the organization was created for the development of environmentally effective, as opposed to efficient per Cradle to Cradle [2], buildings, the first task for the USGBC was to define such a “green” building. In simple terms, a green building was defined by five factors:

• Energy efficiency—The consumption of energy for the construction of the building and the operation of the building must be at a minimum. Use of renewable ...