Green builders positive despite slump in US housing
future proof your home.

An article in today’s Arizona Daily Star provides a great overview of the green housing industry in that state. While builders note that so far stringent green building programmes like LEED have been a preserve of the rich due to the additional cost, a local urban planner noted that their voluntary green program was used on 35% of homes built in the last two years.

Interestingly, he expects a lot of those voluntary green guidelines to eventually become part of the building code. Seen in that light, green building is more than environmentally friendly, it’s actually future proofing your home against regulations and energy costs.

For those reasons, a local builder says he doesn’t see green building falling off just because the market has hit a slump. “The cost of borrowing money is at an all-time low. Energy costs are at an all-time high and certain to go higher.”

It seems saving money and preserving value are things new home buyers may be interested in regardless of the market.

No Comments » | Tags: buildings
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 | Permalink |

Under the same roof
Are green building schemes a dysfunctional family?

Following Jacob’s post on cement, I’m doing some research on green building schemes - specifically Built Green. I don’t mean to pick on them - but it’s a classic example of the state of ecolabels.

It’s a messy family tree - there are a lot of children running around, but it’s not obvious who the parents are. Build Green Washington seems pretty mature, but the county level Built Green schemes all left home, and got new logos. Kids. Then there’s the distant cousins that moved to Canada (but really only settled in BC in Alberta).

Of course, the proud grandparents live in Colorado (Built Green Colorado), where we find the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, which still holds the keys to the Prius in the energy efficient garage - and the Built Green trademark.

It feels a bit like beating my head against a brick wall - I don’t care that it’s reclaimed brick - it still hurts.

I have a feeling LEED’s not much better. One of our goals with ecolabelling.org is to help make this all a bit clearer — but I think schemes could really do with getting their houses in order too. How about some discipline around here - everyone in the Built Green family wears the same logos, and everyone plays by the same rules.

No Comments » | Tags: buildings
Posted by Trevor on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 | Permalink |

Clean cement deserves a label
The case for recognising good practice in a dirty industry.

“In booming economies, cement is crucial for growth but an enemy of green” (IHT, 21 October 2007) outlines a major environmental issue: cement. According to the article, cement is now responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions. The article also notes that the greenest cement technologies only reduce emissions by 20%.

While the rapid growth in absolute amounts of cement being produced represents a major environmental problem, discounting the benefits of greener cement is a mistake. 20% less emissions is 20% less emissions. In lieu of substitution for another building material green cement is the next best option and it should be encouraged.

Along those lines the article references the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), a project of the WBCSD (an industry group based in Geneva). Their agenda for action contains an extensive list of industry commitments set for publishing in 2006. Some of the key ones are:

1. baseline data on CO2 emissions and targets;
2. emissions targets;
3. rehabilitation plans for quarries;
4. statements of ethics.

According to an email from the CSI regarding this blog, the companies have further agreed to independent third party verification of their CO2 emissions, and beginning in 2007, the same treatment for plant safety indicators.

On 19 March 2007 the CSI launched an 8 page brief (PDF | 257kb), that outlines aggregate CO2 emissions for 40% of the industry. The brief notes that a full report outlining a five year plan of action is forthcoming this year.

So far ecolabelling.org contains 13 labels under the type - buildings. There is nothing for cement. The success of Home Depot’s Eco-options label demonstrates demand at the retail level for green products. Our informal conversations with procurement officials, along with initiatives like NAGPI in North America, indicate similar demand at the institutional level. We therefore urge the CSI to work with its members and industry label leaders like LEED to establish an ecolabel for cement.

Those companies making the extra effort to produce a green product deserve to be recognized in the market for it.

No Comments » | Tags: buildings, cement, global warming
Posted by Jacob on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 | Permalink |