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Home > What we do > Ecologically Sustainable Development
Impact of Building on the Environment
Activities associated with managing buildings over their life cycle ie planning, acquisition, operation / maintenance and refurbishment or disposal, have an enormous direct and indirect impact on the environment. The nationwide impacts of the built environment in the USA1 are listed below and provide a useful cost indicator for Australia:
| · Energy Use |
42% |
· Water use |
24% |
| · Atmospheric emissions |
40% |
· Water effluents |
20% |
| · Raw materials |
30% |
· Land use |
15% |
| · Solid waste |
25% |
· Other releases |
12% |
'Green Building' Challenge
The challenge for buildings is to adopt a sustainable approach to the way the built environment is managed over its life cycle. This will require application of integrated, strategic and holistic thinking to decision-making about management of the built environment and include consideration of the downstream consequences of decisions.
1 Worldwide Institute and US Environmental Protection Authority.
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