Buildings have significant environmental impacts throughout their lifecycles, including material production, construction, operation, and demolition. Material production requires extraction, processing, and transportation, all of which use energy and can pollute the environment. Common building materials like concrete and plastics are especially resource-intensive to produce. During construction, buildings generate large amounts of waste and pollution. Operation contributes to climate change through energy and water usage. To improve sustainability, buildings must minimize their environmental impacts, be socially inclusive, and be economically viable over the long term.