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Building Green in a Black and White World--Chapter 2

The following is an exerpt from the book Building Green in a Black and White World.
Section 1; Chapter 2; Part 4; Chapter Two Conclusions

David Ritchey Johnston
January 1, 1900
HousingZone

Conclusions

What conclusions can we draw from this information?

Make green solutions clear to your customers. Many Americans are increasingly concerned about their lack of control over the pollutants they breathe. The products you choose for the interiors of their homes can give them confidence in the health of their home environment. These products can help prevent various respiratory problems in adults and children.

Not all movements toward sustainability require lifestyle changes. Installing water-efficient appliances in your homes will give your buyers the conveniences they are accustomed to, save them money in the long run, and also conserve one of our most precious resources.

As a builder, you are in a powerful position to influence the trends of environmental degradation. You can choose to use only sustainably-harvested lumber. Home Depot has made the commitment to sell only such lumber. Or, for example, every day in the U.S. more energy flows out of our windows and is lost than is brought in on the Alaska pipeline.18 By simply specifying Low-E windows with a higher R-value, you are essentially creating energy. In turn, you reduce the quantity of greenhouse gasses entering the atmosphere because the home will require less energy for heating. Realizing that constructing the average home results in three to five tons of waste, you can be overwhelmed, or you can see this as an opportunity to recycle job-site waste. Your efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle could have notable effects on the space available at your local landfill, lessen the strain on natural resources, and reduce your costs.

In order to transition into a practice of building green, one of the primary changes we as builders need to make is to change our perspective from the short term to the long term. We need to consider the ramifications of our choices into the future.

The choice of green material selection requires many considerations that have to be driven by good business sense. How many substitutions can you incorporate and still stay competitive? How will green improve your sales and marketing? Can each decision you make be a win-win for your buyers and your business?

In essence, every decision you make about what materials you use either leads toward a more sustainable future or decreases the opportunities for future generations to live lifestyles that we have come to take for granted.

Moving toward sustainable development is a process that involves new ways of thinking and building. Yet the question is not really how to become more sustainable--the knowledge and technology exist to guide us in the appropriate actions to take. The question is when?

Now that you are more aware of what green building is, take a look at Section 2 - Becoming a Green Builder, which shows you how to become a green builder step-by-step.

End Notes

1. Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrère, "The End of Cheap Oil," Scientific American (March 1998).

2. J. Potting and K. Blok, "The Environmental Life-cycle Analysis of Floor Coverings,"(1993).

3. John Bower, The Healthy House Institute.

4. Wayne Ott and John Roberts, "Everyday Exposure to Toxic Pollutants," Scientific American (February, 1998).

5. Ibid.

6. Arthur C. Upton, MD (National Institutes of Health), Staying Healthy in a Risky Environment (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1993).

7. David Malin Roodman and Nicholas Lenssen, "A Building Revolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns are Transforming Construction" (Worldwatch Paper 124, March 1995).

8. World Resources Institute "Temperate and Boreal Forests" 10/21/99 www.wri.org/

9. William P. Cunningham and Barbara Woodworth Saigo, Environmental Science: A Global Concern (Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown Publishers, 1997).

10. Ibid, p.295.

11. Donald Prowler, The Case for the Modest Mansion (Emmaus PA: Rodale Press, 1986).

12. Cunningham Saigo, Environmental Science: A Global Concern, p.466.

13. Ibid, p.423.

14. Steve Loken, Rod Minor, and Tracy Mumma, A Reference Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements, 4th ed. (Missoula, MT: Center for Resourceful Building Technology, 1994), p.7.

15. Ibid, p.8.

16. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Issue of the Global Environmental Change Report" (June 14, 1996).

17. The following books are excellent sources of more information on indoor air quality: The Healthy Household, by Lynn Marie Bower,1995; Prescriptions for a Healthy House: A Practical Guide for Architects, Builders, and Homeowners, by Paula Baker, AIA, Erica Elliott, MD, and John Banta, 1998; and Chemical Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes, by Nicholas A. Ashford and Claudia S. Miller, 1991.

18. Janet Marinelli and Paul Bierman-Lytle, Your Natural Home: A Complete Sourcebook and Design Manual for Creating a Healthy, Beautiful, Environmentally Sensitive House (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1995), p.141-142.

Return to Table of Contents

Would you like to purchase this book?

Building Green in a Black and White World
by David Robert Johnston

Also See:

I. What is Green Building Introduction

II. Environmental Issues that Create the Market for Green Buildings

III. The Effect of Building Green on the Construction Process

IV. Conclusion

V. Table of Contents

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