When a construction project is on the go, the functionality of it and its design is not enough to be able to contribute to society. A building to be 100% sufficient and contribute to society and the world needs to me sustainable.
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
It is an approach to development that looks to balance different needs against an awareness of the environmental, social and economic limitations we face as a society. In other words, for a development to be sustainable it needs to be environmentally friendly, be economical and meet social justice.
The fact is that sustainable is not just about the future, it's also about the present. Developing something in the present, that society can use in the present and the future society can use in the future too.
By 2100, the population of earth will grow over 10 billion people, the future population will grow in a society that is depended by technology (more than our generation does), and the technology that we use and will be used comes from resources that needs to be protected. In few words, sustainable development needs to provide an easier way of living, hence Social Justice.
Economic crisis is currently going on around the world, and a big amount of the population find it hard to live from all the bills that people need to pay etc. Economic Prosperity is established, not by just building a cheap building, sometimes is not even that. An economic-friendly building can include techniques that save a lot of energy consumption, water waste, provides heat generation, or generally technologies that will be an economical advantage to the occupants.
Nonetheless, I believe the Environmental Quality of a building is the most important aspect a development could provide. The human race is basically like a weapon of mass destruction, everything we produce, from food products to electricity produce pollution to the earth, as well as the green house effect which led to Global Warming. Sustainable Construction is a chance for human society to contribute to the environment by developing environmental quality in buildings.
A lot of technologies can be used in a development that can make it sustainable, I previously discussed few of them, such as the Sewage Treatment and Green Roofing. And there are hundreds and hundreds of other technologies that are being discovered every day. It is a matter of using these technologies in our developments.