Construction officials outlined a series of steps public officials and the construction industry should take to address the impacts of the built environment on climate change. The new initiative from the Associated General Contractors of America is designed to lessen the carbon footprint of the built environment while also making the process of building projects even more efficient.
“The construction industry is the delivery vehicle for building a greener, more climate friendly future,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Finding a way to ensure that what our members build is more efficient will have a significant impact on climate change.”
Sandherr noted that construction activity accounts for less than two percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Meanwhile, the built environment accounts for approximately one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, while the new initiative includes steps construction firms can take to operate more efficiently, the bulk of the effort is focused on pushing for public and private project owners to build more efficient projects and discovering how we can also support them in that process.
Among the measures outlined in the new initiative include calling for a national strategy to invest in physical infrastructure that will make communities more resilient. The association is also calling for an increase in investments and funding opportunities for public and private infrastructure to build more efficient highways, water plants and other facilities.
Public officials should also invest in modernizing federal buildings to make them more efficient. The association is also calling for expanding tax incentives and deductions to encourage the private sector to build more efficient buildings. And the group is calling for expedited permitting for projects that improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Association officials also identified steps contractors can take to operate more efficiently. This includes encouraging equipment manufacturers to improve the fuel efficiency of their equipment, helping firms learn how to reduce equipment idling and sharing information about industry innovations like solar powered job site trailers and energy efficient job site lighting.
The new initiative was crafted by a special climate change task force for the association created earlier this year. Representatives from 18 different member firms participated in the task force meetings and helped craft the recommendations outlined in the initiative. “You can’t wish for a greener future, you have to build it,” said Les Snyder, the president of Shikun & Binui America in Pittsburgh and the chair of the association’s climate change task force.
Click here to view details of the association’s new climate change initiative.
Related Stories
| May 9, 2013
Post-tornado Greensburg, Kan., leads world in LEED-certified buildings per capita
Six years after a tornado virtually wiped out the town, Greensburg, Kan., is the world's leading community in LEED-certified buildings per capita.
| May 3, 2013
'LEED for all GSA buildings,' says GSA Green Building Advisory Committee
The Green Building Advisory Committee established by the General Services Administration, officially recommended to GSA that the LEED green building certification system be used for all GSA buildings as the best measure of building efficiency.
| Apr 25, 2013
Colorado State University, DLR Group team to study 12 high-performance schools
DLR Group and the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University have collaborated on a research project to evaluate the effect of green school design on occupants and long-term building performance.
| Apr 22, 2013
Top 10 green building projects for 2013 [slideshow]
The AIA's Committee on the Environment selected its top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.
| Apr 16, 2013
5 projects that profited from insulated metal panels
From an orchid-shaped visitor center to California’s largest public works project, each of these projects benefited from IMP technology.
| Apr 12, 2013
Nation's first 'food forest' planned in Seattle
Seattle's Beacon Food Forest project is transforming a seven-acre lot in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood into a self-sustaining, edible public park.
| Apr 2, 2013
Green building consultant explores the truth about green building performance in new book
A new book from leading sustainability, green building author and expert Jerry Yudelson challenges assumptions about the value of sustainable design and environmentally-friendly buildings.
| Mar 29, 2013
Stanford researchers develop nanophotonic panel that reflects sun's heat out of the atmosphere
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a nanophotonic material that not only reflects sunlight, but actually beams the thermal energy out of the earth's atmosphere.
| Mar 27, 2013
Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem
The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.
