These days is difficult to look in any direction without seeing green. However all this green may be insulating people to the cause and taking us away from the original purpose of this movement. There are many reasons why people are going green and a great many of them seem to be to get some more greenbacks.
There's more spin about regular products being green than actual green products. Part of the problem is that there is no consistent system for evaluating Green products. In yesterday's newspaper there was a story about a business that sold scooters that became green by changing the name to Verde (Spanish for green). They still sell the same scooters, but they now wear green shirts and sell their new and improved green fuel saving scooter - actually the same scooter they sold before the name change.
But since the design and construction industry has been in this path much longer than other industries, there is a method for evaluating green buildings. Years ago architects, planners and engineers formed a single purpose organization called the US Green Building Council(USGBC). Over the years, this organization came up with a system for evaluating buildings called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED). This system was first developed for large commercial and institutional buildings, but more recently also focused on residential and even remodeling.
The yardstick for measuring if a building meets minimum Green standards is LEED Certification. A building that is LEED Certified must meet certain minimum criteria and prove it by inspection by a certified LEED Acredited Professional. Meeting the minimum requirements will gain the building LEED Certification. LEED Certification is the minimum level, from that point there are silver, gold, platinum, etc.
This is great, but architects and builders are finding that the system can become a bit cumbersome, because it requires additional testing and record keeping. That means adding staff who are LEED Certified and adding people who will keep track of everything that is done to meet LEED Certification. It also means added cost in managing construction and in actual construction cost.
Contractually it is also developing certain liabilities for design professionals and builders who may commit to meet certain levels of certification that is not known until the building is completed and tested. Lets say a developer markets a building before it is built as a LEED Platinum Certified building and after completed the building only receives a Silver Certification. Needless to say, that may impact the value of the building and may result in litigation against the developers, architects, engineers and contractors. That additional liability needs to be insured and that adds to the cost of the building.
While the original mission of going green was a good concept and the creation of the USGBC and LEED certification a good way to measure the success of a building to meet certain criteria. The process is now becoming more important than its mission.
This is getting more complicated by government agencies and politicians with little or no knowledge about these processes creating laws that buildings must meet certain ratings without considering the financial impact of those laws or providing the funding to meet those requirements. Green is becoming like motherhood and apple pie and no politician is going to turn down a Green Law - but they are not going to provide the funding either.
The objective of the green movement when it comes to buildings is simple. According to the USGBC an LEED building does the following:
- Lower operating costs and increased asset value.
- Reduce waste sent to landfills.
- Conserve energy and water.
- Healthier and safer for occupants.
- Reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
- Qualify for tax rebates, zoning allowances and other incentives in hundreds of cities.
- Demonstrate an owner's commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility.
Unfortunately as people read these goals many are seeing two major goals:
- Increased asset value
- Qualify for tax rebates, zoning allowances and other incentives.
The Green Business Model is becoming more important than the green movement. The Green industry keeps growing and just about anything can now be purchased or sold. You can even wash away your pollution sins by purchasing Carbon Credit Certificates or Renewable Energy Certificates. You can continue to pollute and waste energy to your heart's content and then purchase these certificates from companies that saved their extra credits and eventually become the Greenest Company in your State while still being an energy hog and polluter,
I could go on, but I think this may be a good place to stop and ask ourselves is green really Green? Am I promoting green just to be green or am I living green. Am I teaching others to appreciate those properties that are really green or just calling anything green? I hope I have raised some questions in your mind before we are all painted green.
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