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Building Green in a Black and White World-- Chapter 3

The following is an exerpt from the book Building Green in a Black and White World.
Section 2; Chapter 3; Part 2; Start Where You Are--Give Your Customers Choices

David Ritchey Johnston
January 1, 1900
HousingZone

-------Give Your Customers Choices--------

Giving your customers a choice in materials and design is a safe way to start. Define a green option package for your buyers that clearly describes the environmental features and benefits, and see how they respond.

Energy Conservation Package

Man/Hose Many builders have created an energy conservation package as an upgrade. Energy conserving features typically save the homeowner money every month in utility bills. These features can also increase the affordability of the home by qualifying them for an energy-efficient mortgage.

An Energy Conservation Package might include:

Insulated foundation
2x6 wall framing with increased insulation
Advanced sealing and caulking to reduce drafts
Low-E windows
High efficiency furnace and hot water heater

Indoor Air Quality Package

Woman Good indoor air quality is translated into a healthy living environment for the family. Remember that a significant portion of the market is health conscious, as the sales of organic produce and bottled water show. You can promote healthy indoor air quality as an attractive feature. And it is often a low- or no-cost option.

An Indoor Air Quality package might include:

Low-toxic adhesives
No VOC paints
Water based wood floor finishes
Linoleum upgrade from vinyl tile
Limited use of particleboard in cabinets and countertops

Resource Conservation Package

Planks Knowing that they are conserving natural resources is less likely to appeal to some consumers than improved indoor air quality, but it can be an attractive sales message to environmentally conscious consumers. Conserving resources can also appeal to your buyers’ children, who often have more influence than you may think in their parents’ final purchase decision.

A Resource Conservation Package might include:

Engineered lumber-OSB, wood I-joists, laminated veneer lumber
Recycled newsprint cellulose insulation
Hardboard siding and trim
Recycled content decking
Pop-bottle carpet
Water conserving plumbing fixtures

Pulling the Green Package Together

You can experiment by offering just one of these packages, or you can offer all three as separate options packages to test your buyers’ and prospective buyers’ interests. Your green package could, of course, include a combination of all three options. Complement each package with a list of benefits of each feature, not just the list of components. Buyers can relate to the benefits but often don’t know a wood I-joist from a garage door opener (see Chapter 6).

Tom Hoyt, president of McStain Enterprises, says, "We realized that you can't just give people the option of an energy saving light fixture and have them understand it in the context of the whole building package. When we started working with an environmental construction consultant, it was about how to put it all together--what were the components that created the most value for the customer?"

Telling Your Green Story

The key point is to tell the story of your green package. Buyers are fascinated with a commentary like: “My son came home from school one day and asked me why I was cutting down all the old trees. I told him I didn’t cut down any trees. He replied, ‘But Dad, you build houses, and in school they said that houses use most of the old trees, and when I grow up there won’t be any left.’ The first thing I did was straighten him out about reforestation.

Empty Waste-Land I told him there were more trees today than when the pilgrims landed. Then, I started thinking about what he said. Perhaps there was a way to build without using any old growth trees. I had been using some engineered lumber products but still used 2x10s for floor joists. Our company decided to build forest-friendly homes and plant trees on Arbor Day. Mr. & Mrs. Jones, you can feel good about living in this house, because more trees were planted than were cut to build it." A story like this personalizes what it means to you to build green and makes you stand out from other builders who couldn’t care less about such things.