Buildings account for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, if you add in transportation to those buildings the number is even higher. With 2020 being the hottest year since the 19th century, many people are looking to sustainable/green architecture to help with global warming. What makes a building green is based on the design, construction, operation and end of life recycling. They also manage energy usage, water usage, building materials and location. Green buildings release 50% fewer greenhouse gasses into the air than standard buildings, and some ever release less than that. Green buildings can reduce the impact of buildings on the environment and help with stopping global warming (Huynh).
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Carbon Dioxide Emissions between 2000-2014
Magali Delmas and Omar Isaac Asensio in partnership with a program at UCLA were able to measure the energy use of 178,777 buildings in the Los Angeles area. They compared buildings that were participating in green building programs like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and the Energy Star program. They found that buildings with Energy Star certification used 19.31 percent less energy than other buildings and buildings with LEED certification used 29.99 percent less energy. The building they studied saved 210.2 million kilowatt-hours of energy and avoided using 320 million pounds of carbon emissions. Delmas thinks that this study will inspire more people to start making more sustainable and green energy buildings (Harvey).
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