GBI Testifies Before Senate Committee, Advocates Three Key Principles for Future Sustainability Policies

GBI president Ward Hubbell testified recently before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works about the opportunities to leverage sustainable construction principles to help curb climate change.

Hubbell joined industry representatives from the National Association of Home Builders, US Green Building Council, Healthy Schools Network and others, who testified during the special hearing, titled "Green Buildings: Benefits to Health, the Environment and the Bottom Line."  

As part of his testimony, Hubbell emphasized three key points for the committee to contemplate as they develop future sustainability policies:

• Sustainable design does not by itself result in high performance buildings. It must be combined with effective building operation and maintenance to achieve the desired results.

• Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an essential part of the sustainable design process. Decisions about building materials and products should be based on quantifiable life cycle data, rather than prescriptive approaches (whereby materials are assumed to have environmental benefits based on rapid renewability, recycled content or other attributes).

• Buildings are a big contributor to the problem of climate change, and public policy should harness the powers of competition to help the building sector contribute to a solution.  Organizations such as the GBI, the National Association of Home Builders, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, ASTM International and the US Green Building Council are all working in various ways to develop approaches to measure, incentivize and promote green building.  This competitive dynamic has already stimulated improvement in the field and is essential for the further advancement of the green building movement.

"The GBI applauds the members of the Committee on Environment and Public Works for tapping a diverse pool of experts from the design and construction industry to share their views on priority issues related to sustainability," said Hubbell. "It is clear that we have a tremendous opportunity, through green building, to help address climate change. But there are no easy answers. To succeed, we must first address fundamental issues within the green building movement—such as the all-too-common gap between sustainable design and actual building performance—which is why we need the collective expertise of the entire building industry."

To view video highlights of Hubbell's testimony, please click here