"What are Green Buildings?"
A building is considered "Green" when the principles of sustainability have been followed throughout its design process. The principles of sustainable or Green Building are simply:

• Use resources efficiently, including energy, water, land and materials.
• Create healthy environments for people.
• Move towards eliminating waste.
• Move away from from fossil fuels.
• Support restoration.

When all of these principles are applied to the design and construction of a building, the result sustains and preserves our resources, creates healthy environments, and is therefore a "Green," or "high performance" building.

"What is sustainability?"
Perhaps the best definition is that given by the World Building Congress:

"Sustainability" means meeting our needs today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

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