In the mid-1980s, environmental issues were in the news and public attention due to different international disasters such as the Bhopal disaster (1984), Chernobyl nuclear explosion (1986) and the Exxon Valdez tanker spill (1989). Lifecycle assessments (LCAs) were starting to gain traction from its initial stages in the 1970s to the 1980s and it was in 1991 that the term was first coined. With increasing cognizance of environmental impacts due to human activities, a more comprehensive assessment of buildings utilizing the principles of LCA was much sought after. In 1990, the first Sustainability Assessment Method for buildings, BREEAM was released. In 1993, Rick Fedrizzi, David Gottfried and Mike Italiano formed the world's first Green Building Council (GBC) with the U.S. Green Building Council. Their mission was to promote sustainability-focused practices in the building and construction industry and advance sustainable building principles. USGBC was further responsible for the creation of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system in 1998. The integration of energy usage, materials performance and other building-related environmental issues, along with an aim towards standardizing the comparison of assessments led to more comprehensive building assessment methods.