Review of the White Paper on Sustainability
A Report on the Green Building Movement, Building Design & Construction, November 2003.

Abstract
In fulfillment of an assignment to review the White Paper on Sustainability: A Report on the Green Building Movement, Building Design & Construction, November 2003. The White Paper on Sustainability main elements; are the historical overview of green building, the results of a specially commissioned survey, an analysis of trends, issues, and published research. And the last one is a set of recommendations that describe specific actions to be performed. A brief history of green building is also discussed in the white paper. The basics of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) including the LEED Certification levels and points system. The role of the Federal and State government in the sustainable building program, and the benefits we get from green buildings are also covered.

Main Body
Sustainable building is environmentally friendly, efficient using energy, water, and other materials. Green buildings is also protects occupant health and improving productivity. On Earth Day, April 21, 1993 the US President announced the plan to make the white house a model for efficiency and waste reduction. Within 36 months the improvements to the Presidential mansion let to $300,000 in, energy, and water savings. The greening of the White House also reduces the carbon footprint by 845 tons per year. The first of three “greening” executive orders E.O. 13101 was issued by President Clinton, the E.O. called upon the government to improve recycling practice.
The basics of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) are; LEED address the entire lifecycle of buildings; such as existing buildings, new construction buildings, neighborhood development, school, healthcare, retail stores, commercial interiors, and homes. There are four LEED certification levels; Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The levels are based on earned points system. A structure that earns 26 points can become LEED Certified, 33 points to get Silver, 39 and 52 points for Gold and Platinum level respectively. The LEED checklist category point systems are; sustainable sites (14 points max), water efficiency (5 points max), energy and atmosphere (17 points max), materials and resources (13 points max), indoor environmental friendly (15 points max), innovation and design process (5 points max). Of course there’s a lot more factors in the determination of points such as regional differences. It takes more than just following a checklist to create a well design green building. Some of the criteria in the “sustainable site” are the use of strategies to take advantage of what a site naturally provide such as air, light, water, soil. A smart planning on the design and construction that will reduce strain on local ecosystem through strategized planning. Water efficiency can be achieved by utilizing efficient plumbing fixtures, and capturing and treating rain water for irrigation, and other uses. Improve energy efficiency by using daylight, motion sensors high-efficiency equipment. Energy usage can also be reduced by using solar equipment. Reduce landfill waste by recycling and reusing materials.
The Federal and State role in green building -- the Federal government has been involved in many elements of sustainable buildings; the government also has funded research studies to support green building development. The Department of the Navy and other Military branches also has adopted LEED as a required tool and metric design practices. California Public Utilities Commission offers incentives of up to $150,000 per project to compensate for investing in green building.
The questions for builders and developers are “do green buildings cost more to build” compared to conventional buildings? And do they offer more benefits such as better health, higher job satisfaction, improved productivity of occupant workers? Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Snowmass, Colo. RMI examined several buildings that had saved lots of dollars in various energy retrofits. Some of the examples are Lockheed Building 157 produced energy savings of half a million dollars per year, West Bend Mutual Insurance Company’s headquarters produced 40% savings per square unit in energy costs, the ING Bank Headquarters in Amsterdam energy savings of $2,600,000 at a cost of $700,000. Few other buildings that benefited from implementation of green building concept according to RMI are the post office in Reno Nevada, Pennsylvania Power Company’s lighting upgrade. Newly constructed buildings also showed positive results. The second question is do green buildings offer better human and social benefits compared to a conventional buildings? “West Bend” study by Walter Kroner and colleagues at Renselaer Polytechnic Institute documented productivity gains from day lighting. Study also show that school students progressed 20% faster in math tests and 26% faster on reading tests in one year than those with the least day lighting. Similar study is conducted by Heschong Mahone; he studied 108 stores operated by a chain retailer, 72 of which had skylights, and 36 with electric lighting. The average electric lighted stores would likely have 40% higher sales with the addition of skylights. Basing from many studies and reports green building are healthier for occupant than conventional buildings, thus employees will improve productivity, creativity, and efficiency. It will also reduce health insurance costs for employers, green buildings also are more attractive to workers. Studies also revealed that patients in green hospitals recover more quickly. The future of Sustainable Development -- despite of the positive benefits we can get from green building the editors of Building Design & Construction white paper afraid that the lack of hard-core laboratory research devoted to building systems materials, and technologies can be a road block to the growth and future of sustainability. White paper action plan – the editors of Building Design & Construction recommended action plan to be taken, while they have only the power of suggestion at their disposal, the editor’s hopes that the Action Plan will be beneficial for a better sustainable development. While many studies related to benefits of green building, the real estate business remains skeptical about claims that sustainable buildings provide better human and social benefits. To address this issue, the editors recommended that the National Academies both government and nongovernment or private sector -- conduct an authoritative study and review of benefits of green building over conventional design. The minimum factors to be measured are health and well being of occupants, employee satisfaction, employee productivity, retention, economic, wellness in hospitals, and student performance in schools. The editors also suggest getting the real estate, financial, insurance, and appraisals get involved in the action and study the economic and business aspect of sustainable design. The National Association of Realtors and American Society of Appraisers are few of the many organizations that were named by the editors. Appraiser should be educated in the benefits of green buildings; it will give them better understanding on the value of the improvement and give credit -- higher appraised value on green buildings. These are only few of the editor’s recommendations. The editors sincerely hope that this action plan will lead to further positive activity for sustainable development.

References.
Building Design and Construction. (November 2003). White Paper on Sustainability.
J. Knoll. (2008). LEED Basics. Retrieved from www.bluespringsgov.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=1437

Building Design & Construction (November 2004). Progress Report on Sustainability