Green building: saving salmon, the environment, and money on the path to sustainability opportunities for the Pacific Northwest
Datum
2000-09
Autor:innen
Zeitschriftentitel
ISSN der Zeitschrift
Bandtitel
Verlag
ECONorthwest
Zusammenfassung
The Pacific Northwest faces a number of growing environmental challenges. For example, at least 19 wild salmon populations in Washington and Oregon are extinct and the remainder are in trouble. More than 70 percent of Washington and one-half of Oregon are covered by “endangered” or “threatened” listings of salmon under the Endangered Species Act. Conserving the environment, including water quality and salmon habitat requires
widespread changes in how homes, offices, and shopping areas are built, landscaped, and operated. Some builders prove every day that conserving the environment and saving salmon does not have to hurt the bottom line. Wider application of green building practices makes good economic sense and would occur, even if there were no salmon crisis. Through common-sense actions, they stop wasteful uses of electricity and water that are expensive to produce; reduce the emission of pollutants that are a waste of resources and expensive to clean up; recycle building materials that are too valuable to throw away; and avoid creating compacted soils and other impervious surfaces that are expensive to manage, accelerate rainwater runoff, and increase the risk of flooding.
Beschreibung
25 p.