Green Building Community
The Green Brick Wall
Posted by: StyroHome // Super Insulated, Passive House, Net Zero
If you attempt to build a "GREEN" home almost anywhere in America fo probably will run head-on to the Invisible Green Wall. This means that nobody knows hoe to handle project. This is because of the lack of interest of Government and education. What do you think?
Allison Friedman // Rate It Green Admin
Hi StyroHome! I'd be interested in hearing about green building in Canada vs the US. I am confident it is getting easier here, but it's still a bit confusing. That's where I hope Rate It Green can help, so we can compare notes and share advice across this industry and across geographies.
We do have governments at all levels implementing a patchwork of green building regulations and codes, but it would of course be better to have one consistent and aggressive set of policies. In my town, we have a "stretch" building code that helped us move forward, but now that time passed, it lags behind our state's standard code due to the pace of our political system. We need to cut some red tape and avoid those kinds of situations. I thought we had a resource for viewing all green building codes nationally, but I just failed to find it. I did find the EPA's reference to the International Green Building Code, updated in 2012 with the support of many national and international organizations:
http://www3.epa.gov/region09/greenbuilding/codes/standards.html
But yes, I wish our government would just support green building policies and codes unequivocally. It's been a slower pace depending on the market and nonprofits.
I do think manufacturers and service professionals have been responding to the need to save resources and energy and to build buildings that are healthier for occupants and the environment. We have quite a few nonprofits and research organizations paving the way to green building progress, and I also believe that our certifying and labeling organizations have helped make a tremendous difference. The USGBC has had a profound impact on buildings worldwide (over 13.8 billion sf in the US alone), for example, and I have been really excited about recent efforts for healthy buildings and ensuring environmentally safe products through transparency.
I wish there were clearer and readily available #s, because things seem to get murky between US #s and global totals and residential and commercial construction. I do feel a part of a very exciting movement - we just need to move faster and we ned to all see a transition to a sustainable economy as a great opportunity for jobs and our connective health, and the environment.
In 2008 and 2010 I did some work to try and list all the information resources on greenbuilding I could find. You can find the resource we created in a free version here: http://www.rateitgreen.com/green-building-resources/sustainable-building-resource-guide if I get the funds to expand this at some point, I will continue the work and make it a companion database to our directory.
And of course, we're working to create the largest directory and network we can, to help make all building green building. So, thanks for being here.
StyroHome // Super Insulated, Passive House, Net Zero
Support is one side of the equation, doing the right thing is yet another. Changes that you refer to are only in response to lobby and protest, but the real changes still are meeting hudge resistance. Large corps move slowly or not at all, governments even slower. This is why Climate related disasters climbing at a rate that corporations and government is unable to handle in a timely fashion.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/comparing-el-nino-to-1997-19278?utm_content=buffer04db1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Architecture is visionary and suppliers of materials tr to supply solutions that keep their sale up. I have observed this interaction and don't feel warm and fuzzy that everyone is intent on the best solution for earths population. Personally I have been involved in the building industry and only experienced a 3 Stooges approach to Energy Efficiency and feel that wee may not survive the 2 degree temperature increase that the "Leaders" have set for us.
There is superior building technology that we may never get to use and reverse the energy our building use in time to reverse Climate Disasters because it might trample on the toes of BID Biz.
Allison Friedman // Rate It Green Admin
I try to stay optimistic and work to make things better. I hear you, it doesn't always work. We have massive changes to make and we've only just begun. We're still trying to understand our potential impact on this planet and on other species, and not everyone even agrees about climate change or environmental concern at all. But there are enough people in the green building world and in the climate change movement to be hopeful. Look at the USGBC's growth. Look at 350.org's successes with coal plants and massive #s of people getting ready to act in support of COP21. Look at Germany with solar panels everywhere. One step at a time?
StyroHome // Super Insulated, Passive House, Net Zero
I'm sure you get the point but most 99.99999% don't., here is what I mean.
https://vimeo.com/141912437 and to get even more sick watch the others that follow/
PatPrince317 // Lifelong Learner and Green Energy Aficionado
I think there are a couple of things at play here.
1) There are a lot of innovative materials in regards to green building. The thing it, as it seems to me, is that many people want to be the second customer, so there is a big challenge with getting products adopted. Look at solar for instance. Solar is becoming popular not only because it's cheaper, but because their neighbors are getting it.
2) There have been energy efficiency projects that have been over promised and under delivered that have left bad tastes in the mouths of people who have cut checks for those solutions. I spoke with a man who owns and runs several hotels south of Boston. He told me about building efficiency products (thermostats, motion sensors) he spent hundreds of thousands on and reduced his bills by less than half of what they promised. This is a man who can sign checks for these investments but is very reluctant to now.
3) This is something I have spoken with Allison about before. In my opinion, it is easier to adopt green things that are more practical. High efficiency boilers, heat pumps, water heaters, etc. Cleaning products are a good example. Companies can sell a products for marginally more than say Windex, keep their margins, and they can market that. If green roofing shingles, for example, are 3X as expensive as asphalt shingles and look the same, it can be hard sell to say the least.
If there is a bright side to our current state of affairs, expensive energy costs give people an incentive to invest with or without government incentives...
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