the life cycle performance of sustainable renovation concepts

3.2 SUSTAINABILITYThis paragraph describes the principles of sustainability and a sustainable building.3.2.1 SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTWhen sustainability and sustainable development is discussed, one of the first questionsthat comes to mind is: “What is sustainability?” This paragraph elaborates differentviewpoints of sustainability.The dictionary provides several meanings for the word “sustain”. The main ones are to“maintain”, “support”, or “endure”. Since around 1980, sustainability has been usedmore in the sense of human sustainability on planet earth. This resulted in the followingdefinition:“Sustainable development is development that meets the need of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”This definition is the most frequently referred to, and has been established by the UNWorld Commission on Environment and Development report, also known as theBrundtland report, „Our Common Future‟ in 1987.Sustainability terms and their definitions and interconnections are crucial forunderstanding sustainability, and for better communication in the process of moving oursocieties toward sustainable development (Glavic & Lukman, 2006). Glavic and Lukman(2006) state that each term has its own definitions and features, but it is difficult toisolate one term from the other terms, because the terms form an interconnectedsystem.Glavic and Lukman state that sustainable systems introduce interconnections between:- Environmental protection,- Economic performance, and- Societal welfareThese concepts of Glavic and Lukmancorrespond strongly with the principle of people,planet, profit that was introduced by JohnElkington in 1997 (figure 18). Acccording toElkington, these three elements should beharmoniously combined with each other. If thereis no harmony between these three elements,the underexposed elements suffer from theoverexposed elements.FIGURE 18 - PEOPLE-PLANET-PROFIT (ELKINGTON,1997)3.2.2 SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGSNow the concept of sustainability and sustainable development is explored, the conceptof sustainable buildings is described.According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (see also www.epa.gov) agreen or sustainable building is the practice of creating and using processes that areenvironmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building´s whole lifecycle. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of:- Economy- Utility32