The buildings we have been building are wasteful. They require vast inputs of raw materials (mined and shipped all over the world) and large amounts of energy and water to function.
According to the US Green Building Council, buildings in the United States account for:
• 39% of all energy use
• 72% of electricity consumption
• 30% of waste output
• 40% of all raw materials use
Our way of building for the last century depended on unlimited oil: being able to move anything anywhere, heat and cool anything in any climate, and generally use as much stuff as we wanted where ever we wanted. Regardless of whether this way of building was right or wrong, it is coming to an end because we no longer have the cheap, unlimited oil necessary.