In Pursuit of Sustainability: Building Science and Community Development

Abstract

The local, state, and federal department goals for housing and community development organizations are to create, strengthen, and sustain communities. This contributes to the enhancement of quality of life and helps to meet the need for affordable housing for all. In the United States, approximately 21.3 million people are spending more than 30% of their monthly income to cover rent; this number is documented as a record high. Financial experts recommend budgeting 30% of monthly income to cover housing costs. Incorporating sustainability into these goals through building science can be the path to achieving green building development, which positively further impacts development of affordable communities. The key concepts and relationships among various disciplines (architecture, engineering, and construction) in the building sciences support advancement in how buildings reduce waste and conserve energy and resources. This paper seeks to inform, involve, and support private and public stakeholders in the field of sustainable development by helping to reduce resource consumption, encouraging the development community to advance the practice of sustainable building science, promoting the improvement of policies affecting these practices, inspiring smart growth, and strengthening affordable community development. This paper also describes how sustainable building science can address concepts of affordability that affect community development. These sustainable development practices offer a holistic approach to advancing the real estate development agenda in our built environment and should ultimately bring us closer to transforming our world by 2030.