What is a Sustainable Building?

The official definition of sustainable development is "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". This definition first appeared in 1987 in the UN Brundtland Report which started a public dialogue that is becoming more active and important with every passing day.

Sustainble development means living in a way that supports a healthy environment for future generations. Currently climate change, species extinction, and a host of other environmental problems are already creating a very different world for our grandchildren than the one we enjoy today.

What does this mean for buildings? Sustainability is often couched in lots of technical jargon making it hard to understand, especially when we talk about buildings. Simply put, buildings and communities are ”sustainable” when they are designed, built and operated with low environmental impacts (or actually starts to have a positive environmental impact) while enhancing the health, welfare and quality of life for the people that live in them.

Here in British Columbia we have the knowledge and skill sets to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct any type of building in ways that have far less impact on our environment and on our health than conventional practice. Sustainable building design is continually improving and new developments are occuring every day.

Visit our resource centre on Granville Island to learn more about what you can do, and in the meantime, we encourage you to explore the wealth of information resources on our web site.