The sustainability conversation in the building industry is broadening from an intense focus on energy and resource consumption to a dialogue that actively engages individual health impacts and outcomes. Public health practitioners typically consider issues relating to social equity, community, environmental justice, and quality of life when talking about public health. Green building conversations are starting to move in that direction, as well.
While health has always been included in the green building conversation, it’s been somewhat difficult to quantify when compared to energy and water consumption. But as the relationship between climate change and human health is further demonstrated—along with an interest in living healthy lives—both business owners and individuals are more mindful of fostering holistic health and well-being in their built environments. As the most well-known green building rating system, the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is the first stop in exploring how health and well-being are being incorporated into the green building dialogue.
Since its conception, LEED has included several strategies and metrics addressing health issues, though the health benefits at first were not as well-documented as they are now. LEED credits directly addressing physical health resided mostly in the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category and included opportunities that were obviously targeted at mitigating harmful practices, such as the Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control prerequisite and credits like Low-Emitting Materials and Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control, all of which deal with the inhalation of documented noxious, harmful chemicals.