Healthy Buildings Alignment with UN SDGs

How Healthy Building Principles and Certifications Align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Healthy building certifications contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by advocating for sustainable practices, enhancing occupant health and well-being, minimizing environmental harm, and nurturing collaborative partnerships. They play a pivotal role in furthering the United Nations’ sustainable development agenda and paving the way for a fairer and more sustainable future.

• Healthy building certification prioritises the health and well-being of its occupants.  
• They promote indoor air quality, adequate daylight, thermal comfort and other factors that contribute to a healthier indoor environment.  
• By ensuring healthier spaces, these certifications support the goal of promoting the good health and well-being of building occupants. 

• Many healthy building certifications emphasize energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. 
• By encouraging efficient building, equipment and system design, these certifications help reduce energy consumption and promote clean energy sources.  
• This is in line with the goal of ensuring clean and affordable energy for all. 

• Healthy building certifications play an important role in creating sustainable cities and communities.  
• By promoting sustainable building practices, using resources efficiently, and improving the indoor environment, they help create healthier and more liveable communities.  
• These certifications also promote environmentally friendly and socially inclusive urban development. 

• The healthy building certification encourages the use of environmentally friendly materials, minimizing waste and recycling practices.  
• They promote responsible consumption and production in the construction and operation of buildings.  
• By applying sustainable building practices, these certifications help reduce resource consumption and waste generation. 

• The healthy building certification prioritizes energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and sustainable building design. 
• By addressing these factors, they contribute to mitigating climate change and achieving the goals set out in SDG 13. Sustainable building practices can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. 

• Healthy building certification often involves collaboration between various stakeholders, including building owners, designers, contractors and users. 
• They encourage partnerships and cooperation to achieve sustainable building goals. 
• By fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, these certifications help achieve the broader sustainability goals set out in SDG 17.