Guilding Principles for Sustainable Building 

Environmental: Environmental impacts associated with buildings affect ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources. In order to advance sustainability, it is necessary to first identify and understand the primary environmental impacts; then to mitigate the negative and promote the positive.

Economic: Direct economic impacts associated with buildings are related primarily to life cycle costs of materials, land and labour directly attributable to the building. Indirect impacts are related to externalities that affect others as a result of the building activities. In order to advance sustainability, it is necessary to minimize costs and maximize benefits of both direct and indirect economic impacts.

Social: Sustainability is founded upon intergenerational ethics which emphasize that current actions may impact the quality of life for both current and future generations. In order to advance sustainability, it is necessary to maintain or improve the quality of life for building occupants and the related communities.