Sustainable development requirements in society are presenting specifically expressed challenges to building and construction. These challenges are recognised and met by the building and construction sector on an overall level, but only slowly penetrate into the discussions and operation of daily construction work. An international trend towards increased demands on service life planning, in Europe e.g. expressed by the Construction Products Directive, resulting in an adaptation of standards and codes might promote a change in the construction industry. The article presents the history and background of sustainable construction, pictures the development and state of relevant directives and standards, and couples sustainable construction to the trend towards performance based thinking in construction. The rapid development of IT-based life cycle design and management tools is briefly commented. Is the building and construction sector mature enough to meet the challenges and to take this road to the future? There are market arguments and business possibilities, but also a daily practice providing examples of counteraction.