Playbook for Green Buildings + Neighborhoods | Learn | Buildings | Envisioning Green Buildings

Green building programs address a diverse set of sustainability goals.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy, Grand Rapids, MI, features a rooftop garden, rainwater collection system, and sustainable design strategies such as daylight harvesting that improve the learning environment. Photo Credit: Michael Morin Photography

These include:

Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and green power.
Location and alternative transportation.
Water conservation and low-impact development (stormwater).
Waste reduction and recycling, and use of recycled-content products.
Local and regional sourcing of products and materials.
Passive strategies that rely on natural daylight and wind patterns.
Healthy indoor environments.
Extended life cycles through durable, flexible and adaptive design.

Impressive payoffs of Green Building: A study of 30 green schools found the incidence of asthma 38.5 percent lower than in schools overall. Benefits gained through lower energy and water costs, improved teacher retention, and lowered health costs provided enough direct savings to pay for one additional full-time teacher.

Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings

Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force

Greening America’s Schools: Costs and Benefits

The cost and benefits of greening schools in the U.S.

True Costs of Green Building

Article outlining "The True Costs of Green Building"

Green Building Research Funding

An Assessment of Current Activity in the United States. The report outlines recent green building r...

There is no significant difference in average cost for green buildings as compared to non-green buildings. (Langdon, 2007)