History of Building Green

The history of building green and using local and green building materials and things such as solar design date back millennia, the Anasazi Indian tribe of the Southwest built whole villages so the houses all received solar heat in the winter to cut down on wood usage. The modern day history of green building movement came from the need for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly construction practices. When oil prices started to increase in the seventies it spurred research to improve energy efficiency and find more possible renewable energy sources such as solar hot water and more. This along with the hippy and environmental movements of the sixties and seventies led to experimentation with green building.

The green building field stated to rise in popularity in the nineties and one of the first milestones for the green movement in the United States was in 1989 when the American Association of Architects (AIA) formed the Committee on the Environment. This organization released a book in 1992; this was the Environmental Resource Guide, which was paid for by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Also in 1992 the EPA and the Department of Energy launched the Energy Star program, which is more popular now than ever before. 1992 also saw the first US city, Austin, TX; release a local green housing program.

The following year, 1993 saw many more advancements in the Green Revolution and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) was founded. The White House also had many green renovation projects done during the Clinton administration in 1993. More and more people started realizing the benefits and started making small changes in their homes by going energy star with appliances. In 1998 the USGBC launched their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and they helped contribute to the future of green building. These different programs have helped make many changes when it comes to environmentally friendly construction and they are a big part of the history of building green.

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