Social Equity in the Built Environment: An Initial Framework and Project Examples

The purpose of this paper is to explore how building projects can and are addressing social equity today, in order to further an understanding of these underlying issues, strategies and challenges. First, we explore the definition of social equity as it relates to the built environment, and outline a framework to propose how it may be applied in the US. Then, we present a collection of projects that have incorporated various strategies for addressing social equity. This collection of projects is housed in the Green Building Information Gateway, a database sponsored by the US Green Building Council. Finally, the paper draws some conclusions about the state of the practice and suggestions for moving the field forward. The goal of this paper is to explore the current status, identify sample projects, and encourage further dialogue, rather than to provide definitive answers.