The construction industry is one of the major contributors to energy consumption in both the industrial and the developing world.  In the United States, buildings account for 36% of the total energy use, and for 65% of the electricity consumption.   As stated by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), “the built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health and productivity”.   

In an effort to reduce the impact of buildings in the community, the construction industry is taking the lead toward a resource-conscious world through the sustainable buildings movement.   Sustainable buildings, also referred to as "High Performance" or "Green" buildings, address the ecological, social, and economic issues of buildings in the context of the community by applying the principles of sustainability to the building design. 

Seven Principles of Sustainable Construction were formally defined by the Conseil International du Batiment (CIB) in 1994:

1.  Reduce resource consumption
2.  Reuse resources
3.  Use recyclable resources
4.  Protect nature
5.  Eliminate toxics
6.  Apply life-cycle costing
7.  Focus on quality

These same principles have been the roots for the elaboration of LEED®, a voluntary national rating system for High Perfomance Buildings, developed by the members of the USGBC.  Today several cities and states in the US as well as eleven federal government departments have included LEED® in their policies.  

Next to the energy conservation measures promoted by sustainability practices, renewable energy technologies are positioning themselves into the construction industry framework as one of the answers to a sustainable world.  Several technologies produce energy from illimited and quickly renewable sources such as wind and solar energy.  Among the technologies fully developed today, solar photovoltaics (PV) is the most promising technology for integration into buildings due to the system's modularity and simplicity.

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