Green Building for the Rest of Us
(Page 3 of 4)
November / December 2007
By Hannah Lobel, Utne Reader
But with the benefits of green’s market appeal come familiar dangers. Any burgeoning market, no matter how specialized, is bound to attract vultures claiming to be something they’re not. That’s why industry-trusted third-party certification systems are so important.
RELATED CONTENT
The Architecture Critic: A Survey of Architecture Critics in America August 6, 2001 Al Paulso...
Get Thrifty, Not Cheap....
Noun, singular: A pejorative term lobbed at new buildings, both residential and commercial, that ar...
Singer Al Green and poet Rainer Maria Rilke share a sense of the sublime...
Non-profits collect funds to aid local rebuilding efforts...
The U.S. Green Building Council has set the industry standard with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings, which put commercial builders’ green claims to the test by evaluating design, construction, and operations. The council has recently expanded into the burgeoning green housing market with its LEED for Homes rating system slated for launch by year’s end. Other initiatives are in the works, including guidelines for green renovations and a certification and training program.
Such an umbrella rating system has yet to emerge for the glut of new home products stamped with green labels advertising vague environmental benefits. Take, for example, trendy paints touting their low use of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Dalrymple says that in the rush to meet market demand for these paints, some companies are just tweaking their original formulas to mask fumes instead of creating a better, less toxic product.
“It’s really easy for a marketing department to come up with a little green label that doesn’t actually mean anything,” says Dalrymple. To prevent their good intentions from becoming greenwashers’ profits, consumers are going to have to start doing some homework, which may surprise those who are relatively new to the green scene.
Not long ago, Dalrymple’s customers arrived in his shop armed with research. They were expectant mothers, energy geeks, or people with health problems. “Now,” he says, “we’re finding people who say, ‘I don’t have time to figure this out. Can you just help me do it?’ ”
Until a trustworthy, comprehensive rating system emerges, Dalrymple recommends asking vendors for a product’s government-required Material Safety Data Sheet, which he says is relatively easy to understand and will give consumers a good idea of a product’s toxicity, since the sheets originally were designed to protect workers’ safety. Another good resource is Score card.org, which details various chemicals’ health and environmental effects. Or consider shopping at a “reuse” center, because sometimes the greenest fixtures and materials are the salvaged ones that don’t end up in a landfill (see “Salvage Beauty,” p. 46).
It’s important to remember, though, that saving energy—and the financial benefits that it reaps—doesn’t hinge on green products.