Summary

The construction industry worldwide is one of the biggest polluters and resource consumers.  It is a sector that invites a huge amount of financial investment, and employs a large number of people.  Everybody on the earth requires a place to live, and the construction industry strives to provide this service.

Currently, materials used in construction are being consumed at an unsustainable rate, the energy used for creating the materials is having detrimental effects on the environment and the fossil fuels used to create this energy are running out.  The large amounts of waste created by the construction industry is affecting ecosystems and taking up space in landfill.  Energy used during the lifetime of a building is greater than that used during its construction, and has associated problems.

Measures can be taken to reduce the impacts of building, firstly by designing them to make use of natural or recyclable materials, optimising natural gains and minimising energy use during their lifetime by reducing heat loss, installing water saving devices, and employing renewable energy devices.  Waste during construction can be reduced by initiating a waste management plan implementing the waste hierarchy of reduce, re-use recycle.

The green building industry is growing fast, as legislation is forcing architects to design for sustainable construction, and the problems with traditional building techniques are becoming apparent.  A re-think of our methods for inhabitation is required to sustainably house the worlds growing population.