The term ‘sustainable’ and the term ‘green’ are often used interchangeably. Other terms are also used including ‘regenerative’ and ‘high performance.’ All of these terms are currently understood and accepted to imply the same principles, although no industry standards have been set for specific definitions.

One of the most widely used definitions of sustainability is that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The key aspects of sustainable building and design utilize a regenerative approach to maximize energy and water efficiency, provide indoor environmental quality and comfort, choose environmentally preferable materials and methods, and use waste diversion programs.
The foundation of the sustainable design philosophy is the whole systems approach. It’s become frighteningly clear that we must address our world’s pressing issues as a cohesive whole system, as we design for each part. For example, our increasing population combined with the demand for resources, which are already diminished by overuse and pollution, forces us to think about the limits that the Earth can endure. This in turn, demands of us to address how and where can we maximize sustainable principles in every project.
Buildings are a highly influential part of the larger whole system, impacting the community, the state or province, the country, the Earth and back again. Buildings themselves are whole systems requiring holistic design approaches and coordination of the indoor environmental qualities. Each part of a buildings’ system affects and is affected by the other parts.
As an illustration, more and more chemicals are being introduced into the office environment accumulating to overwhelm the ventilation system from being able to deliver fresh air. Stagnant office air circulates the vapors of as many as 350 VOCs emitted by building materials, furnishings, and office machines. Chemical use is equally disturbing in new or newly renovated residential properties.
After we’ve lived and worked in the TVOC vapors and breathed them all in, we deconstruct it all, throwing materials in the dumpster only to end up in landfill where the VOCs leach into the ground and follow the rains to the rivers and oceans. This conventionally followed system is unsustainable at every level.

A sustainable approach provides a higher level of indoor air quality through careful materials selection, resulting in better health for occupants, and deconstruction for recycling and reuse, resulting in less waste volume with substantially lower toxins for the landfill.