The trending environmentally conscious real estate movement shows the industry values the planet and its inhabitants.The green building movement formally took off in the United States during the early 1990s as the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment sought to create environmentally responsible homes and promote ecological resolve. In 1996, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the world’s leading certification program, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), to reduce carbon emissions, generate less water waste, lower energy bills, and build healthier work and living spaces. “More than anything else, green building is about people,” says Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC. “That’s where the real luxury lies: in improving quality of life and making our society not only more sustainable but more equitable, too.”