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Green Building Certification as a Tool to Promote Healthy Places
The importance of the built environment as a determinant of health is increasingly well-established. However, tools to translate research findings into real world practice are limited. Green building rating systems, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), represent exciting options given a) their success driving consideration of sustainability within real estate markets and b) growing broad-based demand among green building stakeholders to more intentionally address health and wellness.
Health promotion, while a long-standing value within the green building movement, has not been a formal focus. Leveraging the market transformation capacity of green building certification for public health will first require analysis of how health is currently represented within these tools.
Methods
We conducted a descriptive analysis of health-related language and metrics used within a) the LEED 2009 rating systems and b) accompanying reference guides. We reviewed language for 419 credits across seven LEED 2009 rating systems (e.g. New Construction, Existing Buildings, Schools). Health terminology (i.e. language used to describe health intent) was tabulated and categorized according to public health outcome categories.
Results
Health and wellness are well-represented as intended outcomes across all LEED green building rating systems. However, terminology is inconsistent and public health domains currently addressed are limited in scope. Air and water quality are prominently addressed (105 credits); not surprising given their overlap with traditional sustainability goals. Physical activity is targeted (25 credits) along with mental health / well-being (121 credits) as related to maximizing indoor comfort. Of note, this analysis focused solely on existing 'core' LEED system elements; pilot and more specialized health-focused credits (e.g. Design for Active Occupants, LEED for Neighborhood Design) were not analyzed. Nonetheless, these results identify health-focused built environment strategies available for use within a major green building certification system and highlight potential areas for future development.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and preventionEnvironmental health sciences
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate health-related language and metrics used within the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED 2009 rating systems and accompanying reference guides.
Identify public health outcomes currently addressed within major green building certification systems.
Understand future opportunities for public health researchers to influence market transformation tools, such as LEED, used by the green building industry.
Keyword(s): Built Environment, Environmental Health
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been researching the possible applications of green building certification, specifically LEED, for public health promotion for the past year and a half. My primary scientific interest lies in accelerating action-oriented research on the intersection between the built environment and public health. I studied global environmental health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and now work as a Health Research Associate at the US Green Building Council.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.