Structural sustainability of high performance buildings

Building sustainability is a growing field and is one of the means of addressing global warming. Structural design can have a significant impact on the overall sustainability of a building. The sustainability of a structure can be considered with respect to embodied energy of structural materials, durability, design flexibility, optimality, and deconstruction, to name a few. Current structural practice has just begun to address these issues. Tall buildings have unique sustainable principles that warrant a special focus. This review paper will discuss how structure can be a catalyst for the design of high performance or sustainable buildings.