Role of Green Buildings in Sustainable Environmental Management – A Review

ABSTRACT Since the 21st century, the concept of green building has been gradually popularized and implemented in more countries, which has become a popular direction in the area of sustainability in the building industry [1]. The real-estate and construction sector has been identified as an energy-intensive sector, with a global share of 32% of total energy usage. As a result, 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the sector. Greenhouse gas emissions have an effect on global climate, resulting in increasing temperatures, higher sea levels, and shrinking artic sea-ice. However, this process can be mitigated and the real-estate and construction sector can be a great contributor to this endeavor, as energy savings in the range of 50–90% are possible to achieve using today’s best [9]. The aim of this paper is to study the role of green buildings in environmental management through green/energy-efficient buildings and retrofits from economic, environmental and social perspective. Key words: Green Buildings, green house gas emissions, environmental management, energyefficient buildings