USGBC vows to make green building worldwide phenomenon

Let’s begin with the definition of green building. It may make the discourse clear. Green building or a sustainable building, happens to be the outcome of a design which focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use — energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment during the building’s lifecycle, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal. The concept did originate in the realm of the United States of America and some even consider it as an effective tool to triumph over the burnt of ongoing downturn.

Truly speaking, owning to these concepts the saga of green building has witnessed an expansive growth and interest. The leadership has been provided by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). It has been at the forefront of this movement in the United States. Nevertheless, it has changed its stance a bit and is concentrating on expanding its mission into an embracing international marketplace. Will it be possible ever? Well, there are signs of optimism as many countries have already become acquainted with this novel concept thanks to online technology and have shown interests as well.

LEED Green Building Rating System, developed by the USGBC, an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building or community performs, is going to assume a good role. The basic task of LEED is to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions. At present, there are LEED projects in 103 countries.

USGBC, in recent times, collaborated with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) on a global program called the Climate Positive Development Program that supports the development of 16 large-scale urban projects in 10 countries on six continents demonstrating cities can grow in ways that are “climate” positive. Once the initial 16 projects are completed, around one million people will get benefited and work in Climate Positive communities. These communities will be located in: Melbourne, Australia; Palhoça, Brazil; Toronto; Victoria, Canada; Ahmedabad, India and others.