Sustainable Development and Society - GSA

Sustainable Development and Society
a functional unit basis, so that compared
products are true substitutes for one
another. It discounts small amounts of
negative materials in otherwise benign
products; and helps to avoid short-lived, low
first-cost products that are often not the
cost-effective choice.
Professional rigor is required for correct
application of LCC analyses. But, the
evolving discipline of LCA is even more
complex. Tom Lent’s article, below,
discusses some of the challenges that still
remain in their use.
Equity and Life Cycle
Assessment
Life Cycle Assessment is developing as a
superior tool for incorporating both
economic and environmental impacts of our
in our business decisions. But where does
the third leg of the sustainable triad –
Equity – enter the analysis? In order to be
sustainable, we need to address; not just
cost reduction and economic opportunity,
and environmental protection and resource
conservation, but also improving the quality
of life for individuals, communities, and
society as a whole.
And the private sector is moving in this
direction, too. According to the CoreNet
Global industry research and leadership
initiative known as Corporate Real Estate
2010, ninety percent of the Fortune 500
companies will adopt "triple bottom line
reporting," which means that companies
will be measured by social responsibility,
environmental sustainability and profit. 9
Once we have made the most economical
and environmentally healthy choices, we
need to know the impact of those “green”
products on the communities in which they
were made, on those who fabricate and
install them, and on those who operate and
maintain them.
Greg Norris’s article, below, describes an
approach for estimating the health
consequences of the development impacts
of sustainable consumption policies and the
design of goods and services and how the
topic fits into sustainable development.
Notes:
1. Circular No. A-94, Revised, (Transmittal Memo No. 64), October 29, 1992, Guidelines and Discount Rates for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Federal Programs.
2. The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings, A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force, 2003 (October), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), p.8.
3. Evaluation of LEED Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods, NIST GCR 02-836.
4. For an extensive international listing of green building evaluation tools, see http://buildlca.rmit.edu.au/links.html.
5. Athena Version 2.0 Environmental Impact Estimator. 2003. Available at: http://www.athenasmi.ca/.
6. BEES Version 3.0 is available at http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees.htm.
7. In German at: http://www.legoe.de.
8. In Dutch, from the Environmental Institute at the University of Amsterdam (IVAM). An older version is available in English at:
http://www.ivambv.uva.nl/uk/index.htm.
9. “Dramatic Changes Predicted for the Corporate Real Estate Function in 2010,” March 5, 2004, Global Press Releases, Press Release 38, CoreNet Global.
13