Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide First Edition

MATERIALS AND
Buildings generate a large amount of waste throughout
their life cycles, from construction to building operations
to demoli tion. The amount of waste leaving the
property can be reduced, however, through responsible
procurement choices, as well as by implementing
comprehensive recycling programs t hroughout t he construction,
operation, and demolition ph ases. Consideration
of materials and resources focuses on the hea lth
and product ivity consequences of material selections
for building occupants, plus t he long-term social, econom
ic, and environmental impacts of materia ls used in
the design and construction of the building.
Green building addresses two kinds of problems rel ated
to materials and resou rces:
• Waste management; and
• Life-cycle impacts.
LEED recognizes and encourages strategies that consider
materials
reJ urces "from a long-term, lifecycle
pe~;pec t !1e
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