A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

Green buildings also keep ecosystems intact through careful siting and sizing. Building on or near an ecosystem that is sensitive to human activity can easily harm wildlife by hampering breeding or destroying hunting grounds. Therefore, a major feature of green buildings is careful consideration of a building location’s impact on its surroundings.