Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

Even in world-leading green building countries, there are very few programs and
initiatives that focus on waste minimization, resource management (other than energy, so
water, building materials, etc.), site selection and maintenance, management of
stormwater, relationship to local transportation initiatives, etc. So, to maximize green
building adoption, programs and incentives should be offered wherever possible, should
focus specifically on green buildings and green technologies, and should be diversified to
offer support over the entire spectrum of green building areas.
Programs covering aspects of green building other than energy efficiency include Keep
Australia Beautiful’s (KAB) Clean Site Program which provides building industry
professionals with environmental guidelines focusing on erosion and sediment control,
waste management and resource conservation. The Program also focuses on maintaining
the overall environmental quality of the building site throughout the building period, with
particular emphasis on minimizing negative effects on local waterways, rivers, creeks and
beaches, which can experience significant increases in pollution and sediment load during
and after the construction phases. Another non-energy green building initiative is how the
German and Japanese Governments are incorporating sustainability into their public
education systems, and how they are running public awareness campaigns and open
educational workshops to increase public knowledge of green building and sustainability.
A final noteworthy green building initiative that is not energy-related is the UK’s
Waterwise Program, which was launched to promote water efficiency. The Program
recognizes that the key to water efficiency is in reducing waste, not restricting use, and
has focused its efforts to reduce the amount of wasted water in the UK. These efforts
have included repairing over 270,000 leaking supply pipes, distributing over 2 million
cistern devices (which reduce the unnecessarily high amount of water used in toilet
flushing), and the provision of 15 million self-audit packs to help customers take steps
themselves to use water more efficiently. The Waterwise website also has a water saving
tips and a list of water saving products.
Governments should begin offering rebates for the purchase, installation and use of
Energy Star Appliances and labeled energy or water efficient products. This is done in
several of the countries reviewed (including in certain provinces in Canada), and has
increased the use of these efficient products. These rebates can be small, to simply
encourage the original purchase, because often these efficient products are slightly more
expensive upfront, but save money over time through their efficiency and conservation
levels. Rebates should be made available on appliances for homeowners, but also on
efficient building materials to encourage builders and developers to use efficient products
during construction. Additionally, groups in some of the other countries studied simply
give out small products such as water-saving showerheads and energy efficient light
bulbs for free, because so much water and energy can be saved over time for each
comparatively cheap product given away. The savings made by society vastly outweigh
the costs felt by the donating groups.
Building codes and requirements denote the minimum standards developers must adhere
to in order to legally create a building in a given country. Outdated standards are
sometimes cited as hindering the development of green buildings because they can
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