Green buildings and the law

In countries such as the UK, the energy used in constructing, occupying and operating buildings accounts for up to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. Pressure to improve the environmental performance of buildings during both construction and occupancy and, in particular to reduce carbon emissions from buildings, has become intense. Legislation and regulation are driving green development and compliance, but voluntary measures are also crucial. The approach adopted for this publication is an holistic one. Both mandatory and voluntary techniques are considered and, although the main focus of the study is upon standards for sustainable buildings, such wide ranging areas as constitutional law, planning law and product standards are included amongst the contributions. There are eighteen individual contributors to the twelve chapters of the book and snapshots of the law relating to aspects of green building are presented from nine different jurisdictions. Some common themes emerge from the contributions, such as the difficulty in determining just what is meant by ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ building and in measuring ‘greenness’. Other issues identified by the authors surround the effectiveness of regulation as opposed to voluntary approaches and whether it is preferable to have central or local controls. This publication contains a selection of outputs that will allow important lessons to be drawn by nations across the globe at all stages of development. It provides some possible directions of travel for states in addressing the challenges that still exist for green building legislation and practice. It is of value to the research community, lawyers and the construction industry as well as to policy-makers