1.  Introduction

The building and construction sector is central to so-called sustainable development in that sense that, with some variations from one part of the world to the other, it provides 5 to 10% of employment and generates 5 to 15% of the GDP (Growth Domestic Product).

[One possible definition of sustainable is: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", Gro Harlem Bruntland, WCED, 1987]

The built environment, at the same time, accounts for a large share of the energy use, waste generation, as well as the use of natural resources.

In broad figures, these impacts on the environment can be summarized as follows:

• 25 to 40% of total energy use,
• 30% of the raw materials use,,
• 20% of water use, as well as 20% of water effluents production,,
• 10% of the land use,
• 30 to 40% of solid waste generation,
• 30 to 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

(source:  the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative, SBCI, launched by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, in February 2006: www.unep.fr/pc/pc/SBCI/SBCI_2006_InformationNote.pdf)

The above mentioned initiative is a new step in a series of measures and policies that accompany the growing worldwide concern regarding the global impact of Man on Earth, one of the main contributions to it being the way he organizes his habitat. The Earth Summit (Rio, 1992), the Kyoto Protocol (1997) or the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) are some of these meaningful milestones.

The increasing world population and the shortage of adequate housing create an enormous demand for future housing with an expectable demand for sustainable solutions. Already, several national initiatives are transposing this growing concern about the building sector's environmental impact into assessment models addressing a large variety of aspects.

Some well-known of these models and referentials for certification are listed below:

HQE (haute qualité environnementale)

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method)

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) GB tool (Green Building tool)

CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency)

HK-BEAM (Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method)

MINERGIE

PASSIVHAUS

GOBAS (Green Olympic Building Assessment System)

BASIX

The following pages present how steel-based construction, parcticularly residential,, is addressing the environmental targets that are imbedded in "green building" standards, thus reflecting societal expectations.

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