Green design is not merely the use of energy-efficient materials. It also involves the creation of products and systems that leave a light footprint on the environment over the full life-cycle—from production to transportation, installation, use and renewal. As such, sustainable green design should be thought of as a process, not just a goal—allowing for a broader evaluation of the environmental, economical and societal impacts of product, as single units and as part of their environment.

When considering environmental issues in construction and life cycle, some focus on evaluation of manufactured products in terms of waste disposal (although a product’s end-use can account for as much as 90 percent of a product’s impact on the environment). Instead, a host of factors and influences of a product’s impact on society should be evaluated and contrasted to the product’s performance. A systems approach allows for determination of the environmental impact of a product in terms of energy consumption at each state of a product’s life cycle, beginning at the point of raw materials extraction from the earth and proceeding through processing, manufacturing, fabrication, end-use and disposal. Transportation of materials and products to each process step should also be included.

A wind farm at Graveley is beginning to take shape, with two of the turbines now complete and a third well on the way.

The site, at Cotton Farm, is expected to put more than £300,000 into the local community over its lifetime once it starts generating electricity next year.

Energy firm Renerco is building eight turbines at the site and construction of the wind farm is on track for completion early next year.

Regulators are expected to announce that they have approved the design for nuclear reactors put forward by EDF and Areva as suitable to be built in the UK.

The move will mark the end of a five-year, £35 million "generic design assessment" process by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency to assess the companies' UK EPR reactor for use in the UK.

A Government scheme that has enabled some of Britain’s biggest cities to have more spending control in areas such as planning and transport is proving to be an effective driver for low carbon growth, according to a new report by the Green Alliance.

The research by the green think tank found that 'city deals’, which the Government has introduced to unlock the economic potential of cities, are driving low carbon growth across eight major cities, but that some authorities are doing better at embedding low carbon growth in their city deals than others.