[EDITOR'S NOTE: To check the blog on this topic, click here.]
In the commercial building space, environmental responsibility — what it means to "be green" — has been well-defined. Commercial architects, building owners and building product manufacturers have adopted the widely accepted U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building standard. But, while LEED has become a de-facto standard in the commercial construction marketplace, there is no generally accepted definition of green building in the residential construction market.
The three competing standards for residential green construction — Energy Star, NAHB, and LEED-H — have established frameworks that define green building for home builders, building products manufacturers and home buyers. At the same time, a confluence of social, political, and economic factors are driving environmental issues to the forefront. Going green is becoming less of a frontier; it is starting to become more integrated, and it is establishing a new norm within the American consumer mindset.
"Green building will reach its tipping point by 2007 using conservative estimates. As any industry crosses from being less involved to more involved, it means the rest of the industry will be forced to follow, and the green homes of today will become the standard homes of tomorrow" - Harvey Bernstein, VP Industry Analytics & Alliances, McGraw-Hill Construction.
While this movement is underway, many building products manufacturers have begun to jump on the bandwagon, but others — seasoned skeptics — are not fully convinced that environmental sustainability/green building will ever be a relevant differentiator. Some skeptics cite the much hyped rise and fall of solar energy in the 1970s. Triggered by high oil prices arising from oil embargoes, the initial push toward solar was strong and well intentioned but was ultimately undermined by questionable economic efficiency and the subsequent drop in energy prices. Other skeptics will point out that green construction almost always results in higher first initial costs to home buyers — and that home buyers have consistently demonstrated their unwillingness to "pay now to save later."
Skepticism aside, the real reason that green building will become a critical element of residential construction — green's dirty little secret — is that the movement toward green construction will be driven more by financial interests than the broader interest of helping the environment. That's right; the green that everyone is talking about in the residential construction industry is the color of the money they'll be making by taking advantage of this critical business trend. The competitive game of business has not changed — increasing sales, increasing market share and widening profit margins — only now the environment will be a silent beneficiary.
As it did in the commercial construction marketplace, the green building movement is generating cash for companies and creating new winners and losers in the marketplace. Simply put, defining your business as green is good business. With solar energy as a historical example, it was lofty in concept but ultimately stalled because the underlying economic fundamentals were weak. When oil prices dropped, the demand for solar by consumers — and the push for solar by manufacturers — came to a standstill. With weak economics, "save the planet" slogans can only take you so far.
