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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 4; Taking Your First Steps

David Ritchey Johnston
January 1, 1900
HousingZone

Taking Your First Steps

The first steps in becoming a green builder are surprisingly easy. Your company may already be incorporating many green products.

Emblem 1. Use one of the checklists from HBA green programs and conduct a self-evaluation of the materials you currently use. The Denver checklist is a comprehensive list that can give you a good idea of how you are doing. (See Appendix A.)

Are you using engineered lumber, wood I-joists, microlams, or OSB?
Are you building energy conserving homes now?
Do you install high efficiency HVAC equipment?

In many markets these products and approaches are common-place.

2. Don’t go whole hog the first time out. Green building is an evolutionary process that takes time to develop. Get comfortable with each new set of products. Do some research. You might want to create a research house, as in the example below.

House McStain’s Tom Hoyt says, "With our research house we asked: What packages can we assemble that will give customers real value and give them the sense that they are contributing towards environmental improvement?"

To answer this question, McStain researched all the potentials and developed a prototype house. As a production builder, their greatest fear was that they would put something in a house fifty times, then find out it failed and that they were responsible. They already had costly examples of that, and it was difficult on customer relationships.

The research house gave the company the opportunity to evaluate all the potentials and decide on the best collection of items. After looking into various options, they narrowed their focus down to energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and building material sustainability. With several consultants' help, they developed a set of options that they put into one of their production houses.

This exercise was a valuable experience. They found materials that their trades contractors refused to install. They discovered products that were supposed to be available but weren't. Some materials supposedly cost one thing but cost something else. Some approaches worked extremely well that they didn't know would. (See Chapter 7 for the case study.)

If your market research shows that indoor air quality and children’s health are of interest to your customers, for example, pay attention to that. Do the easy things first. Take your time.

3. Start with low-cost features and identify those that will require little change in your current process. Low-VOC paints and finishes are a good first step. Once you have tried some of the new products, it is easy to make them standard practice.

4. After you have worked your way up to qualifying for one of the green building programs, you can establish yourself as a green builder through your company presentation and brochures. Be confident in your package and credible in the combination of features you have chosen. The consumer is often more aware of green issues than you might think and is sensitive to "greenwashing," which is the claim of being more environmental than is really true. (See Chapter 6 for brochure and sales information.)

5. A footnote: experiment with the products you think might become part of your green package. Test them in your garage, on your mother-in-law, or on "freebee" jobs for your neighbors. Develop a comfort level first then offer them to your customers.

Tom Hoyt says, "One piece of advice I'd give is to educate your people, especially if you are going to use something innovative." Let them know what you are doing, Hoyt suggests. Involve them in researching and engineering the products so they perform the way you think they are going to.

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