Date of Award
6-2014
Document Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environmental Science and Policy
First Advisor
Andrew Morris
Language
English
Keywords
construction, energy, green, carbon, climate
Abstract
The need for green buildings are rapidly becoming more important as the nation faces impending energy crises and the world heats up from the overabundance of greenhouse gases. Buildings in America are one of the largest consumers of energy and one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions; more than the total emissions from all the transportation vehicles used every day. By making the construction and use of buildings more resource efficient, this can help alleviate the environmental strain of climate change. Neutralizing or eliminating carbon emissions from building use will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and is a single most effective way to begin the reversal of climate change. Making this shift in the building industry will not be easy but is certainly possible at this moment in time. Cooperation from the government, the public, and the market is critical to help make sustainable building mainstream. Voluntary measures already in place can be revamped to appeal to more people and the introduction of green building codes and standards can work together to achieve this goal of the significant reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases.
Recommended Citation
Battiste, Lisa, "Using Green Building to Mitigate Climate Change in the Twenty-First Century" (2014). Honors Theses. 478.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/478