Susan Kaplan on Social Equity as Buildings “Go Green”

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Almost 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, both from the construction process and when they are in use. This has led to a rapid rise in “green building” initiatives and certification schemes. The World Green Building Council has called for “radical cross-sector coordination to revolutionize the buildings and construction sector towards a net zero future.” However, action to reduce the environmental impacts of a project can often overlook its social impacts: whether this involves displacing local communities, overlooking accessibility for disabled users, or the exploitation of workers on the construction site and throughout the materials supply chain. 

Annabel Short spoke with Susan Kaplan of BuildingWrx and the US Green Building Council’s Social Equity Working Group, about the ways that built environment professionals – from planners, to developers, to architects – can, and must, prioritize the needs and aspirations of local communities. The US Green Building Council has developed social equity pilot credits and a checklist to help make this happen. “It’s a messy process”, Susan says. “But if they really started to understand the risks of not looking at a project from different perspectives, they will see that it makes so much more sense to engage at the beginning.”