Page 18 - The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction Sustainable Construction for Engineers

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 An Introduction to Sustainable Development
There are many definitions of sustainability and sustainable development. What is sustainable
for one group may not be as sustainable for another. The most accepted worldwide
definition of sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(Brundtland Commission, 1987). However, in an effort to address some of the sustainability
ideals and goals in the United States, a subset of sustainability referred to as sustainable
construction and its subcomponent called green building are emerging. They offer a look at
sustainability in terms of a smaller scope, such as typical building or construction in an
area of the developed world, and in the shorter term, perhaps the life of a building.
Sustainable construction is any construction, while green building focuses on
vertical construction. There is also a movement developing to address horizontal
construction (transportation and utility corridors). The horizontal construction
program related to roads in the United States is usually referred to as green highways,
although there are also publications that refer to some of the designs as sustainable
streets. The Green Highway Partnership is an organization which has the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) among its partners. This partnership began in the Washington, D.C., area
and is expanding nationally. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
became a leader in this field in 2009 and 2010 with the establishment of committees
in both its Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI), and Environmental
and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) under the EWRI Low Impact Development
(LID) umbrella. The first T&DI/ASCE Green Streets and Highways Conference was
scheduled for November 14–17, 2010, in Denver, CO. A Greenroads sustainability
performance metric rating system is also being developed at the University of
Washington. Another initiative relating mainly to the outdoors and horizontal
construction is the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SSI), which is a collaboration between
the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center (The Wildflower Center), and the United States Botanic Garden
(USBG) among others. More information can be found at their website: http://www.
sustainablesites.org/.
Sustainable construction is an international concern. Although this book focuses on
the process in the United States, great efforts have been made to develop sustainable
policies and practices throughout the world. The sustainable practices range from
procurement or supply chain practices through wastewater reuse practices in the
operational phases. Good solutions and practices for sustainable construction may not

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