Motivation for environmental construction

Environmental laws are increasing and changing faster than they can be implemented in the construction industry. This is especially important for federal facilities and environmental construction because federal agencies are strongly averse to notices of violation to environmental regulations. Other industries, such as the Air Force aircraft development industry, are coping with problems related to impacts of environmental laws by integrating the concept of design for environment into their management strategy on a life-cycle basis. The construction industry has historically addressed environmental regulations in a segregated and fragmented approach and seen environmental issues as restrictions and constraints. With the advent of sustainability in construction and bioremediation in environmental construction, federal agencies also need to address the problem in an integrated fashion by improving its project management, planning, and implementation strategies. This article presents a framework that can be used by the construction industry for analyzing construction alternatives in an integrated fashion with respect to environmental laws and regulations. The framework provides a holistic approach for taking into consideration public needs, construction processes, and regulatory governmental functions. The framework can be used by federal agencies for addressing life-cycle environmental issues pertaining to compliance, conservation, and pollution prevention. Use of the holistic approach and integrated framework is expected to minimize remediation in new building and environmental construction projects. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.