ConstructionConstruction Safety Safety Green Design & Construction Understanding the effects on construction worker safety and health By John A. Gambatese, Sathyanarayanan Rajendran and Michael G. Behm GREEN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION practices holistic view of green construction is needed—one are primarily aimed at minimizing environmental and that addresses safety and health over the entire life Gresource impacts and improving the safety, health and cycle of a constructed building—in order for the productivity of a building’s final occupants. The goal green process to be truly categorized as sustainable. of these practices is to create facilities that are sustain- Entities responsible for sustainable processes are able. Designing and constructing buildings using cur- seeking to evaluate and even take responsibility for rent sustainability practices may—or may not— their supply chain to ensure that inputs are as sustain- benefit construction worker safety and health. A neg- able as outputs (Kjaerheim, 2005; Lewis, 2005). The ative impact on construction worker safety and health construction process is the key supply chain compo- is of concern since, in terms of the aggregate number nent for green buildings. Therefore, if green construc- of fatalities, no industry experiences more fatalities tion is to be sustainable and safety is a key component than construction (BLS, 2006). of sustainability, evaluating and considering worker If an injury or fatality occurs during the construc- safety within the construction supply chain is a rea- tion of a green building, is the project sustainable? sonable expectation. Construction worker safety and Green building design focuses its attention to a large health is as important as that of the end-user. extent on the sustainability of the end users and the This article focuses on the impact of green design end use, while the process by which the building is and construction practices on the safety and health constructed is somewhat ignored and may not nec- of construction workers. It presents the concept of essarily be a truly sustainable process. Gilding, sustainability and the current drive toward green Humphries and Hogarth (2002) argue that many buildings, and describes the U.S. Green Building sustainability agendas are too narrowly focused on Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and environmental issues and ignore occupational safe- Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Rating ty. The authors of this article propose that a more systems such as LEED are designed to evaluate how John A. Gambatese, Ph.D., P.E., is an associate professor in the Department “green” and, therefore, how sustainable, a project is. of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University However, these systems typically have little, if any, (OSU). He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Civil Engineering, both from the University focus on the safety and health of those who construct of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of the facilities. This issue is covered to support the stance Washington. During his career he has also held positions as a structural engineer that buildings should not be deemed “sustainable” and as a project engineer. Gambatese is a member of ASSE’s Columbia-Willamette without considering the construction safety and health Chapter and of the Society’s Construction and International practice specialties. element. The article also reviews a pilot study of an He is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers LEED-rated project to provide insight to the industry’s and American Institute of Constructors. perspective on the proposed concept and highlights several green design features which affect construction Sathyanarayanan Rajendran, Ph.D., is a safety supervisor with Hoffman site safety and health. Finally, modifications to the Construction Co. in Portland, OR. He holds an undergraduate degree in civil LEED rating system that would enhance the safety and engineering from Anna University in India, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil health of construction workers are discussed. Engineering, both from OSU. He is a member of ASSE’s Columbia-Willamette Chapter. Michael G. Behm, Ph.D., CSP, is an assistant professor in the occupational safety Sustainable Building Design & Construction program at East Carolina University. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from OSU. He Sustainable development can be defined as devel- is a professional member of ASSE’s Eastern Carolina and Philadelphia chapters and opment that meets the needs of the present without of the Society’s Construction and Academics practice specialties. compromising the ability of future generations to 28 PROFESSIONAL SAFETY MAY 2007 www.asse.org meet their own needs (World However, the terms Commission, 1987). The con- green and sustainable cept of sustainable develop- are not necessarily ment is further exhibited in synonymous although the following definitions: these two terms have •“Improving the quality been used inter- of human life while living changeably within the Abstract: This article within the carrying capacity construction industry. discusses the impact of of supporting ecosystems” Green is a term used to green design and con- (IUCN/UNEP/WWF, 1991). refer to primarily the struction on the safety •“Development that de- design and construc- and health of construc- livers basic environmental, tion practices that tion workers. It exam- social and economic services impact the environ- ines the concept of to all residences of a commu- ment (e.g., the soil, sustainability and the nity without threatening the water, air, plants and current drive toward viability of natural, built and animals). Sustainability green buildings, and social systems upon which is a broader concept describes the U.S. Green the delivery of those systems that, in addition to the Building Council’s depends” (ICLEI, 1996). environmental aspect, Leadership in Energy Sustainable buildings are addresses the continu- and Environmental considered by many to be ity of economic, re- Design rating system. those whose design and con- source and social The authors present the struction employ “green” aspects of human soci- results of a pilot study techniques that minimize ety. For a green build- conducted on a green environmental and resource ing to be sustainable, construction project and impacts, and contribute to the consideration must be propose several modifi- safety, health and productivi- given to more than cations to this system ty of their occupants. USGBC just protecting the that would enhance the recognizes buildings de- environment. safety and health of signed and constructed using In addition, a construction workers. green techniques by means of its LEED rating system, building can be called sustainable only if sustainabil- which was released in 2000. The system is a voluntary, ity principles are applied throughout its life cycle, consensus-based national standard for developing which includes all phases from planning and con- high-performance green buildings. Based on well- struction through the building’s end-of-life stage. founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state- Since control of performance outcomes typically of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, exists only until the penultimate (maintenance and water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection operations) stage of a building and no knowledge and indoor environmental quality (USGBC, 2005a). about its end-of-life stage or its life span is available, Buildings that satisfy or exceed the green require- a building cannot be truly labeled as sustainable in ments posed by the LEED system are formally certi- the early stages of its life cycle. A building can only be fied by USGBC as sustainable. The system has four identified as more or less sustainable than another levels of certification based on the extent to which building, similar to the different levels of LEED certi- green features are incorporated: Certified, Silver, Gold fication. For each sustainable design and construc- and Platinum. The primary purpose of LEED certifi- tion feature added during the early stages (design, cation is to promote greener buildings—that is, to construction and operation) of a building, another reduce the environmental impacts of the building’s step is taken toward sustainability, but the facility is life cycle, which can be significant (USGBC, 2005a). not necessarily fully sustainable. LEED recognition is leading to changes in the way Safety & Health Impact owners, designers and contractors approach building of Green Buildings: A Pilot Study design, construction and operation. This change, and Green buildings are designed to incorporate envi- the motivation to attain LEED certification, can be attributed to several factors, including an enhanced ronmentally friendly practices in the project develop- public image for owners; the presence of more envi- ment process with the help of the LEED rating system. ronmentally friendly owners; use as a marketing tool Currently in all 50 states and in 13 countries world- for contractors; reduced operation and maintenance wide, 2,069 new construction projects have been regis- costs; and improved health of building occupants. tered with USGBC and 289 new construction projects have received LEED certification (USGBC, 2005b). Green Buildings & Sustainability This amounts to approximately 235 million gross The primary purpose of LEED certification is to square feet of building space (USGBC,