Building Types
Every building type has different design and efficiency needs depending on its function. The EPA offers helpful tools for the following building types.
Green Homes
How can you make your home greener? Improve the environmental performance of your living space by implementing the strategies found on the following pages.
- Energy Efficiency for New Homes - from ENERGY STARĀ®
- Energy Efficiency through Home Improvement - from ENERGY STAR
- Air Quality at Home - from EPA's Indoor Environments Program
- Saving Water at Home - from EPA's Water Program
- Waste Reduction at Home - from EPA's Waste Program
Green Schools
More than 53 million children and about 6 million adults spend a significant portion of their days in public and private school buildings. These school buildings may contain environmental conditions that inhibit learning and pose increased risks to the health of children and staff. EPA's Healthy School Environments Web site serves as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers, and staff address environmental health issues in schools.
Green Commercial Buildings
How can you make your office building greener? EPA offers tools and strategies in the following areas:
- Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings - from ENERGY STAR
- Air Quality in Large Buildings - from EPA's Indoor Environments Program
- Saving Water at the Office - from EPA's Water Program
- Reducing Waste in Commercial Building Construction (PDF) (16 pp, 2.15M, About PDF) - from EPA's Waste Program
Green Laboratories
Laboratories for the 21st Century is a voluntary partnership program dedicated to improving the environmental performance of U.S. laboratories. EPA and the US Department of Energy are helping new and retrofitted laboratories cut their energy costs and improve environmental performance by offering training and education, as well as a tool kit.
Green Healthcare Facilities
The Healthcare Environmental Resource Center provides pollution prevention and compliance assistance information for the healthcare sector, including information on green building .
Energy Star for Healthcare was developed by EPA's Energy Star Program to help healthcare facilities achieve cost savings through reductions in energy consumption.
Building Healthy Hospitals: Top 5 Green Building Strategies for Healthcare was developed by EPA Region 9 and includes five case studies and a summary of benefits.
For more information about greening the entire healthcare environment, visit EPA's Partnership for Sustainable Healthcare.