Читать книгу Construction Management JumpStart - Barbara J. Jackson - Страница 90

Today, a much greater emphasis is being placed on the environment and the relationship between our buildings and the communities in which they are constructed. In recent years, a voluntary, market-driven building-rating system called the Leadership on Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), has been making its way into segments of the construction industry. This program, which evaluates environmental performance from a “whole building” perspective over a building's life cycle, is becoming so popular that many states are requiring LEED certification of its public buildings. The LEED Green Building Rating System is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED provides building owners and operators with the tools they need to have an immediate and measureable impact on their buildings’ performance.

Green building and green building technologies are being applied to every sector of the industry, and construction practitioners are playing a vital role in carrying out and implementing sustainable goals and objectives on projects.

Not only are buildings being certified LEED but so are the individuals who design and construct them. Today it is quite common to see the initials “LEED AP” (for LEED Accredited Professional) printed on a business card after the name of a construction manager. As a matter of fact, there are many construction management students who have already achieved their LEED AP designation by the time they graduate. This is a testament to the dedication and commitment that has been expressed by the construction community toward building sustainable communities. It is clear evidence that sustainability is not some passing fancy—rather, it's an accepted and standard way of doing business in the construction industry today. You will learn much more about Sustainability and the Built Environment in Chapter 16.