Green Building Leads to Green Neighborhoods

Green building is on the rise all over the world. We are becoming more aware of our impact on the world and trying to do something about it. This new awareness has given birth to a new program: LEED for Neighborhood Development. The pilot program that began in 2007 has targeted cities that were experiencing a housing boom, pushing them to build neighborhoods with a high walkability score. This means that there are grocery stores, dry cleaners, schools, child care, parks, and more within an easy walking distance. By encouraging people to walk more, the risk of obesity, hypertension, and heart disease is being reduced, as well as the level of air pollution. A study conducted in 2008, “The Economic Value of Walkability”, found that people living in vehicle-dependent communities spend an average of 50% more on transportation. On top of reducing your waistline, these communities reduce your spending! Of course, LEED-ND understands that sometimes you just can’t walk somewhere, so they are also working to increase the availability of public transportation.
This could lead to smaller, more tight-knit communities; communities where we actually know our neighbors. This could increase overall happiness. Gone are the days of spending hours in the car a week just to get to and from work. Here come the days of spending more quality time with our families.