Photo courtesy USGBC
As part of its Living Standard initiative, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a new report titled “Standard Issue” to better gauge how the public feels about issues at the core of the green building community’s mission: sustainability and the environment.
The report takes a closer look at Americans’ views on environmental concerns and how the green building industry can be better positioned as a global solution. The study included both qualitative and quantitative research conducted in fall 2018. It included focus groups with millennials, community leaders, young parents, commercial and residential developers, and the general public.
The report found, while three-quarters of respondents said environmental problems are very or somewhat important to them, they do little to address the problems in their own lives, considering it too daunting a task.
The research also shows people want to live in a healthy environment, but do not typically associate green buildings with being part of the solution. When asked which terms most strongly relate to the environment and being green, only 11 percent said green buildings.
When considering the connection between green buildings and personal health, almost a third (32 percent) indicated they have direct, personal experience with bad health associated with poor environments or living situations. Additionally, when ranking how healthy their local environment is on a scale of one to 10, 65 percent gave it less than an eight.
The research suggests there is a gap between the enormity of the problem and how people seek to address it in their daily lives, and the green building community can mobilize and inspire change by connecting messaging to healthy outcomes for human beings.
USGBC has identified the following key areas to talk about how green buildings can help, who they help, and why they are necessary.
Promote healthy outcomes
Sustainable cities improve people’s lives and better designed spaces help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Toxin-free materials, good air ventilation, and air-purifying plants, all together in a home or workplace, can improve physical health and comfort.
Future generations
At the rate the planet is warming, calamity is almost certain. The future generations deserve to live in a healthy, thriving environment where they live, learn, work, and play. The time to act is now.
Planetary stakes
With more natural disasters, drought, fires, and hunger, the global environment is getting worse every day. Now United Nations (UN) climate scientists report, if dramatic changes are not made in how people live and in the fuel they consume, environmental catastrophe is eminent by 2030.
