The terms “green” and “sustainable” get thrown around a lot in environmental circles. They’re often used interchangeably, but they aren’t quite interchangeable terms. It might sound like semantics, but there are actually some important differences between the two words, especially when it comes to building.
What Do the Words “Green” and “Sustainable” Mean?
The first thing to know is that we do not all agree on what the terms “green” and “sustainable” mean, let alone on the differences between them. What each builder, developer, supplier, third-party certifier, etc. means by each term could vary widely. Here, though, are some standard definitions, so you can get a sense of what the terms mean, at least in theory.
What Do We Mean by “Green?”
The emphasis in definitions of green building tends to be on improving the relationship between building, as a process and a structure, and the environment.
The World Green Building Council states that a “green” building:
is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment. Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.
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Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.
What Do We Mean by “Sustainable?”
When people talk about the term “sustainable,” they most often trace it to the World Commission on Environment and Development’s 1987 report Our Common Future (also called the Brundtland Report). This report explains that “to make development sustainable” is “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
This is the EPA’s definition of the word “sustainable:”
Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.
The term sustainable is often thought to incorporate human health, economic vitality and social equality along with environmental concerns. That said, the WGBC’s definition of green building also takes quality of human life into account, while the EPA’s definition of sustainability focuses exclusively on the environment, so you can already start to see how the criteria that are supposed to define the one can end up being applied to the other.
What’s the Difference Between “Green” and “Sustainable?”
In a 2009 article in the journal Sustainability, authors Ernest J. Yanarella, Richard W. Levine and Robert W. Lancaster theorize that the term “green” refers to more superficial approaches to environmental change. Green projects, to them, seek to “make the world less unsustainable” (their emphasis), but leave the larger systems that have created our current environmental crises intact.
Something like swapping your old lightbulbs for LEDs would fall under their definition of green. It’s a good idea, but it doesn’t confront the “social, cultural, and economic systems and practices” that drive our incredibly wasteful and unsustainable ways of living.
They argue that sustainability, by contrast, means “undertaking the necessary changes in our economic, social and urban processes to achieve a dynamic, virtuous and balanced relationship with nature.” It’s not about lessening our harmful impact on the planet – it’s about transforming the ways we interact with the planet so that we prioritize its needs, along with other people’s.
If we take the theory into account, then, we can think about sustainability as an approach to building that incorporates green practices along with concerns for economic and social health. In this model, the goal of sustainability is to help us better evaluate what we actually need and to transform our systems (from the ways we get our energy to the ways we produce building materials to the ways our homes are built) such that all of us, as well as the planet, can thrive.
We can think about sustainability that way. The question is, do other people? And the pragmatic answer is that it depends on who you talk to.
Why Do the Differences Matter?
For architects, builders, developers, urban planners and others who have a stake in the way these words are interpreted, the differences can help to clarify the direction a project is headed, ground a project in a theoretical framework and communicate the intent behind a project to governments or to the public.
For the average homeowner or homebuyer, the differences matter because somebody, at some point, is going to try to sell you something “green” or “sustainable,” and it’s important to know what these things mean so you know when someone might be selling you a false bill of goods.
When Do the Differences Matter?
One place where the differences matter is when you’re searching for building products. Since there are no clear-cut definitions of what makes a product “green” or “sustainable,” the regulations on what a company can refer to as “green” or “sustainable” (including homes) aren’t strict.
That makes greenwashing (the practice of calling a product environmentally friendly when it’s not) a widespread problem, not just in the building industry, but at large.
In Canada, the Competition Bureau of Canada governs environmental claims. It has a guide that specifies what companies can and cannot claim about their products, as well as what a company should be prepared to do to substantiate its claims. The guide offers clarity for companies around what could constitute deceptive marketing and how to avoid it.
It’s a good start, but as lawyer Susan Vogt tells Canadian Lawyer, the Competition Bureau works by responding to complaints, so it’s up to consumers or to a company’s competitors to spot false claims and report them.
Vogt still finds the guides helpful, however, in that “legitimate green companies” trying to do the right thing “are making claims that are correct and accurate,” which should help a consumer identify when a company has evidence to back up a claim and when those claims are just marketing.
The Competition Bureau actually weighs in on the question of defining what’s meant by the term “sustainable.” In the guide, they acknowledge that sustainability involves concepts that are “still under study. At this time, there are no definitive methods for measuring sustainability or confirming its accomplishment” because sustainability can only be measured over “a very long period” of time. Their recommendation is for companies to avoid general claims that their product is sustainable altogether.
Maybe We Should Just Use More Specific Language
The Competition Bureau recommends that manufacturers make specific claims about the content of their products and the processes they use to produce them. This results in loads more clarity for consumers about what they’re getting, and gives companies opportunities to prove that they’re doing what they claim.
This might also be great advice for homebuyers looking for green homes or searching for builders who are more environmentally conscious. It’s also great advice for homeowners who want to be more environmentally friendly in their renovation projects. Setting specific and measurable goals for a new home or a building project, rather than pursuing a larger, vaguer goal like having a sustainable home, allows you to assess whether you’ve met those goals or not.
Third-party certification systems like the ones used by LEED or Built Green are a great example of how you might accomplish this. Criteria are met and confirmed through evidence and testing. As a homebuyer, or a homeowner pursuing certification, that certification gives you specific information about the building process and the performance of your home.
The criteria you meet (like improved performance, zero waste or using 80 percent recycled materials) will result in a home that meets the definition of green and/or sustainable, but with data in front of you, you won’t have to do any guesswork to figure out what that means.
Feature image: Charles Parker; Image 1: Alex Bierwagen
This is so good because it does help people understand the usefulness of taking care of our environments and our homes
Green buildings are those buildings that can create a positive impact on our climate and natural environment while sustainable buildings are those that us better evaluate what we actually need and to transform our systems (from the ways we get our energy to the ways we produce building materials to the ways our homes are built)