Key Issue Roundtable #16: Integrating Safety & Health into Green Construction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gillen, Matthew
• Description:
  Improving sustainability and the environmental performance of buildings is an important mission. Commercial and residential buildings account for about 40% of primary energy consumption nationwide. Conventional construction consumes a large amount of raw materials and creates a large waste stream. Once completed, buildings also have a considerable impact on human health and the environment. The growth of "Green" building practices is a direct response to these findings. The US EPA defines Green Building as: The practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life cycle, from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as sustainable or high performance building. Green building rating systems were developed to define and evaluate these practices. The first and most widely used rating system in the US is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED3), developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). Two other existing systems are Green Globes, developed by the Green Building Initiative, and the Living Building Challenge, developed by the International Living Building Institute. There are similar green rating systems in use in more than 25 countries. The rating systems are organized using point totals addressing several categories of environmental, health, and energy conservation practices. Green buildings are considered to provide a number of benefits. These include environmental benefits, reduced energy costs, lower long-term operations and maintenance costs, and improved occupant worker productivity and well being. A broad cross-section of construction clients, ranging from the governments at the federal, state, and local level to hospitals, commercial buildings, universities, hotels, schools, and industrial owners have embraced green building practices for new construction and retrofit work. As of 2012 there were over 162,000 accredited LEED professionals and over 31,000 buildings participating in the LEED process. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Adaptation Construction Industry Construction Materials Environmental Health Environmental Protection Health Effects Health Protection Occupational Safety Programs Safety Practices Workers Work Practices

  More +
• Publisher:
  American Society of Safety Engineers
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054158
• Citation:
  Safety 2013: Proceedings of the 2013 ASSE Professional Development Conference, June 24-27, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada. Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers, 2013 Jun; :792
• Contact Point Address:
  Matt Gillen, MS, CIH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of Construction Safety and Health, Washington, DC
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Safety 2013: Proceedings of the 2013 ASSE Professional Development Conference, June 24-27, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:83683912127e767ca6070661a5ef72bfe8d0f7afbf04e1bc5237b3dae3d4c953a9e77cc4bf309b5e9561cd613c4b7261b63e93f03bdd73b29a9ccb5fb0600a32
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216782/cdc_216782_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 211.46 KB ]