http://tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/building+article PennTags Feed http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/43997 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/43997 <p>Green building has emerged over the past decade as a robust movement to create high-performance, energy-efficient structures that improve occupant comfort and well-being while minimizing environmental impacts. Supported by organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, both public and private entities are increasingly pursuing green buildings in the institutional, commercial, and residential sectors. While this progress is impressive, for a number of reasons it has not included significant numbers of affordable housing projects. These reasons, several of which are unique to affordable housing, include: an almost exclusive focus on "first costs," the existence of per unit cost caps, regulatory rigidity that limits green innovation, and a finance system that fails to recognize the long-term value of green investments.</p> http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/43416 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/url/43416 <p>One of the most important attempts to reduce the environmental impacts of the built environment is through the construction of green buildings. This article examines the geography of the emerging green building industry through a study of the spatial distribution of two different elements of that industry. The first element is the location and diffusion of green buildings themselves as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) through their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. There is a clear shift from an original concentration in major coastal cities to a more even distribution across the country, with broad representation across commercial, public, and nonprofit owners. The second area of study is the spatial distribution of LEED-accredited professionals, who are accredited by the USGBC to oversee the certification process. The distribution of these professionals matches existing concentrations of population, suggesting two different geographies of building green.</p>