I've searched AC for hours and have found very little on green building and I can't understand why. There are so many advantages to building green it would take me hours to address them. In 2005 only 2% of new construction in the U. S. was green building. In 2007, just tgwo years later, 10% of all new construction was green. Unfortunately, green comes in all shades from just putting in a radient barrier, this would be very "light green," to building a gold standard Leeds home, or very "dark green." Most developers in Louisiana do not attempt to develope using any green standards. They clear cut all the trees, do not try to protect, restore or enhance the natural features of the site.
We have many Brownfields and especially Greyfields in our area that with a little effort and forsight could be developed. By Brownfield I mean sites that have some environmental issues that may make them difficult to develope but not impossible. Greyfields describes obsolete commercial sites in older suburban areas such as old K-marts, Montgomery Ward stores, etc. Greyfields typically require little or no clean up.
Green development encourages efficient land use and provides a postive impact on the environment. The type of green developement strategies I'm refering to are: Compact developement, and Transit-Oriented design. Building in a compact way uses land more efficiently and can preserve the most environmentally sensitive areas. Transit-Oriented design tends to locate new developments close to bus lines, rapid transit, bike paths, and schools, churches, and shopping centers. This type of developement minimizes vehicle travel and air emissions. As you might have guessed we haven't even scratched the surface of green developing and green building. My next blog will concentrate on marketing your green builder. If your a neophyite to green building hop aboard and hold on we've just left the station.
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