ABSTRACT

While understanding and adoption of environmentally and socially responsible design and construction has vastly increased in this millennium, it is none the less still largely marginalised. Most clients and nations are far from fully exploiting the benefits of the underlying principles. Some legislation has failed spectacularly to achieve its objectives, and some issues – such as indoor environmental health – are still barely addressed except by a diligent minority. Worse, despite ample justification for the direction of policy and legislation there is still cynicism and resistance and bad practice that has no place in a modern enlightened world. Given current understanding of the adverse impacts human activity is having on the natural environment, and the risks this imposes to future quality of life, the continuing dominance of unsustainable practices is disheartening.