TL;DR
Green initiatives emphasizing LEED-certified buildings do not necessarily correlate with healthier communities. To successfully connect infrastructure with positive health outcomes, you need to understand local public health, environmental health, and ecological health needs.
LEED-Certified, Healthy Buildings
According to the US Green Building Council’s 2024 Impact Report, LEED-certified space now coers there is now 29 billion square feet. Yet those healthy buildings are not necessarily correlating with healthier communities. In fact, a study of 74 LEED-certified projects in Austin, TX and 393 in Chicago, IL found no spatial correlation between clusters of protective green building strategies and clusters of vulnerable populations. What is going on? How can we ensure that healthy buildings lead to healthy communities?
Lack of Strategic Health Focus
Green building standards address general health or sustainability needs but they are not being strategically used to tackle specific health needs of the community. For instance, a building may be designed to address air quality concerns by using low VOC materials. However, if it was known that the local community is experiencing respiratory illness stemming from traffic-related air pollution, targeted measures such as positioning of intake vents and creation of vegetative buffers could be employed.
Vulnerable Populations May Not Be Addressed
Green building initiatives may get built in areas with low-risk populations. For instance, historically, wealthy white communities have gotten trees while low-income and minority areas haven’t. Similarly, the needs of elderly or disabled people may not be taken into account when a development is planned.
Narrow Focus on Human Beings, Not All Beings
Humans are healthy when all the beings in our ecosystem are healthy. Yet building design often fails to address simple pollinator, bird, or other wildlife habitat needs. For instance, non-native plants may be used and lawns may be sprayed with pesticides. Apiaries may be installed without thought to where they will find forage and how that will affect native bees.
Build with Health in Mind to Create Truly Healthy Buildings
Only by strategically addressing the health needs of the people and the local ecosystem, can we create truly healthy buildings and healthy, sustainable communities.
Photo by Parsoa Khorsand on Unsplash