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Sustainable Building Technical Manual - Etn-presco.net

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PART IEconomics andE nv i ro n m e n tIntroduction<strong>Sustainable</strong> development is the challenge of meeting growing human needs for naturalresources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter, and effective wastemanagement while conserving and protecting environmental quality and the naturalresource base essential for future life and development. This concept recognizes thatmeeting long-term human needs will be impossible unless we also conserve the earth’snatural physical, chemical, and biological systems. 1<strong>Sustainable</strong> development concepts, applied to the design, construction, and operation ofbuildings, can enhance both the economic well-being and environmental health of communitiesin the United States and around the world. The Union Internationale desArchitects/American Institute of Architects (UIA/AIA) World Congress of Architects recognizedthat in its 1993 Declaration of Interdependence, which acknowledges that buildingsand the built environment play a major role in the human impact on the naturalenvironment and on the quality of life. If sustainable design principles are incorporatedinto building projects, benefits can include resource and energy efficiency, healthy buildingsand materials, ecologically and socially sensitive land use, transportation efficiency,and strengthened local economies and communities.In the United States, federal agencies and the building industry, under the leadership ofthe National Science and Technology Council, have undertaken the development ofgoals for improved construction practices. These National Construction Goals promiseenormous benefits for the nation, in terms of both economic prosperity and generalwell-being. Embracing sustainability concepts, the goals aim to reduce energy, operation,and maintenance costs; reduce building-related illnesses; increase the productivity andcomfort of building occupants; reduce waste and pollution; and increase building andcomponent durability and flexibility. 2PART I: ECONOMICS AND ENVIRONMENT I.1

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