Summary Reader Response Draft 4
Calrecycle’s article on “Green Building Materials” (n.d.) defines a sustainable building as one that employs a variety of tactics to provide the owner and its tenants with certain advantages. One of the tactics is to design the building using green construction materials. Three billion tons of raw materials are used annually in building and construction activities globally (Roodman & Lenssen, 1995, as cited in Calrecycle, n.d.). Green building materials are made of reusable media, which lessens the negative environmental impact that construction has on the environment (Planradar, 2022). Utilizing green building materials encourages the preservation of nonrenewable resources. Calrecycle also mentions that other benefits include the conservation of energy, an increase in productivity and health of occupants, and a reduced upkeep cost over the building’s lifetime. Prior to construction, a material evaluation is done. This comprises an evaluation of energy and resource efficiency, af