Green building (GB) policies have been implemented to promote GB and address climate change. Most of the existing literature have studied the costs and benefits of developing GB, without considerations of GB policies’ impacts. This paper aims to study the costs and benefits of implementing GB policy from the developers’ perspective.

Addressing energy use in the built environment is just one aspect of the carbon reduction challenge, according to The Footprint Company chief executive Dr Caroline Noller. Addressing the embodied carbon in building materials is also vital.

Dr Noller told The Fifth Estate international data showed that more than 50 per cent of global carbon emissions ended up in a building or infrastructure material of some kind.

Covering roofs and walls of buildings with vegetation is a good way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And these green roofs and walls make cities look nicer. Toronto’s central business district adopted a policy of establishing green roofs on around half of all city buildings in 2009. Research shows this could reduce maximum city temperatures by up to 5℃.

Read the full article on The Conversation.