Introduction

In adopting a holistic approach to the interaction between buildings and their environments, it soon became clear to the research group that there is a wide range of different ways in which buildings can impact upon the environment (and vice versa) and, consequently, many different areas of law to consider. Although the main focus of the study is upon standards for sustainable buildings, such wide-ranging areas as constitutional law, planning law and product standards are also considered. There are eighteen individual contributors to the twelve chapters of the book. Snapshots of the law relating to aspects of green building are presented from nine different jurisdictions. The task of determining an order for these contributions did not prove to be an easy one. Ultimately, the chapters have been grouped into four sections; the first contains two contributions from the United States, the second contains four chapters from Europe, the third has two chapters from contributors in South Africa and the final section contains four chapters from Asia and Australia.