The US EPA has determined that buildings account for a significant percentage of the total energy, water and electricity consumed in the US, and a considerable portion of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions. The economic costs attributable to such inefficient resource use are sizeable, as are their environmental and social impacts. Building and construction companies as well as architecture and engineering firms are increasingly working together to ‘green’ the building life cycle process to reduce such impacts. This has engendered a rethink of such issues as building design, construction practices, operation, maintenance, renovation, deconstruction and waste disposal.