Comments dthopwood has made

Nice, balanced presentation

Having labored in the corporate vineyards for many years, I can attest that there is a consciousness rising among the many talented people there about the importance of balancing economic pursuits with environmental sensibilities and commitment to our communities.  Unfortunately, public corporation executives and their Boards are insulated and almost always the last parties to the awakening.  Wall Street and institutional shareholders further the reinforcement of short-term actions.  Trust me, there won't be a revolution in large corporations.  They will simply be supplanted by a new generation of socially responsible start-ups that understand the imperatives of feeding local economy, protecting our land, air, and water for the next generations, and providing products that minimize their environmental footprint.  In the end, the consumers in our capitalist economy will vote with their pocketbooks, their intelligence, and their hearts.On With big biz jumping on the green bandwagon, should activists cheer or jeer? posted 2 years, 9 months ago 13 Responses

Impediments to Residential Green Building

1.  Material Supply Chain.  Lots of new technologies, products, applications and innovation hitting the market, little third party verification of product quality and reliability claims, and insufficient pull from consumers to create enough volume to drive manufacturing costs down.  Result:  10%-25% premium for building green.  You really have to want this!

2.  Builders vs. Architects.  Any self-respecting architect these days is LEED certified or at least associated with those who are.  Finding builders who have the knowledge and experience with sustainable building materials (tough in many locations) is the critical piece.  Many want to learn, but if they haven't done it before, you'll be paying for their education, and risking the outcome of your project!  Opportunity:  There's a desperate need to educate builders, who smell cost increases when they hear the word green, about sustainable construction and materials.

3.  Lagging Financial Infrastructure.  Lenders don't know how to assess value or risk of sustainable designs and materials (they're risk averse to begin with), and are therefore reluctant to embrace such projects.  Appraisers don't know how to place value on green building.  Realtors are clue-less and have been slow to respond to the rise in interest in the marketplace...in most locations, you can't sort the MLS for green-certified homes.

4.  Competing Standards.  There are multiple and often confuisng and competing standards of what constitutes a green house."  Governmental organizations could clear the air by establishing building codes and standards that clarify and simplify. This would get a lot of builders on board, not to mention homeowners.

5.  Accessible Standards.  When LEED released the Home standards, I called my architect, who designed our sustainable home currently under construction, and asked if the design would have achieved LEED status.  His response was, "ABsolutely YES...but you couldn't afford it!"  LEED, Green Globes, and all the other standards run the risk of burgeoning bureaucracy and complexity...reminds me of the Quality movement of the '80's...companies became so obsessed with chasing the Malcom Baldridge Award, they forgot why they were doing quality improvements in the first place!  Solution:  Make the standards affordable and reasonably simple.