I spent last week in Las Vegas at the International Builders Show. While the weather was unusually rainy and bleak, the atmosphere of the conference was quite the opposite. Optimism was pervasive among builders and manufacturers alike, and smiles noticeably replaced last year's scowls.
Innovative new products included a hybrid spray foam that insulates while sealing air leaks, integrated solar roofing panels that replace traditional shingles, and appliances that are designed to hook into a smart grid.
I was quite taken by the changing cast of characters seated at the green table. I can't recall seeing a booth that didn't have some kind of green message, and I've never heard the words "green" and "production builders" used more often together than I did last week.
Many manufacturers are already considering the business implications of the production builders adopting green building products and practices. Even if housing starts remain down, the demand for green products by the production builders will drive increased production, augment investment in new products, and reduce prices, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of increased adoption for those green products.
Savvy manufacturers are already beginning to phase out traditional product lines in favor of green ones that will meet changing codes, regulations, and consumer demand.
While the sustainability equation cannot be solved by the production builders alone, I was encouraged by the progress that is being made in that sector of the market.
For example, Pulte Las Vegas showcased their Villa Trieste project, a green community that aims to reduce energy demand by 60% over traditional residential communities. And two senior executives at K. Hovnanian Homes shared information with me about steps that they are taking toward enhanced sustainability, including using green products and practices that will help them achieve up to 50% home performance improvement.
Of course, it is paramount that each of us continues to push the boulder uphill and positively affect our own sphere of influence, regardless of the market sector or size of our companies. To that extent, Green Builder Media, in conjunction with partners Building Media, Department of Energy, Energy Star, Steven Winter & Associates, and Ecos Interiors by Pat Gaylor, put our best foot forward with our ReVISION Vegas project—a green retrofit of an 1,800-square-foot 1960s house that embodies this moment of "Green Responsugality" (an ethic of sustainability blended with equal parts of responsibility and frugality).
Our goal was to create a net-zero-energy home. We're delighted to say that the house went beyond net zero—between the performance improvements and the solar systems, the house received a negative 2 HERS rating, meaning that it produces more energy than it uses. We hope that the ReVISION Vegas project can serve as a model for the typical American family to implement significant, affordable green upgrades.
For more information about the ReVISION Vegas, visit our website at www.greenbuildermag.com or read the latest article about the home in the digital version of Green Builder magazine.
Posted: 1/27/2010 12:00:00 AM by
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With the eyes of the world on the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) this week in Copenhagen, members of the global community wait with a range of expectations for some meaningful agreement on how to begin to address the planet's increasingly urgent environmental and climate issues. Throughout the course of the week, there have been ups and downs, progress and setbacks, agreements and stalemates.
China claimed its place in the global spotlight by committing to cut CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by up to 45 percent by 2020. Japan strengthened its global environmental leadership position by pledging $19.5 billion to combat climate change. Countries such as Australia, Britain, France, and Norway committed $3.5 billion for forest protection across the globe. And the U.S. offered to take the lead in raising an additional $100 billion to assist developing countries in combating climate change, as long as fast-growing economies like those in China and India accept binding commitments and verification processes for emissions reduction programs.
But tension around unsettled issues is mounting, and there are open questions as to whether or not global leaders can marshal the political will to implement the extreme measures necessary to reduce our collective global impact. In an impassioned statement, U.N. climate chief Yvo De Boer declared that we're in an "all-or-nothing situation", and that unless global leaders reach consensus this week, it is possible that we'll face dire consequences as nature unleashes her fury against our current levels of pollution, waste, deforestation, and ecosystem destruction.
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of climate change, there is more at stake from the results of COP15 than carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and clean technology targets. Climate consciousness has become an unavoidable pillar of our global conversation, and now, whether or not we can agree on its causes or effects, it is shaping current and future decisions about business, politics, regulation, and the economy. If we want to have an individual, national, or global influence on the outcome, we simply cannot opt out of the discussion.
As environmental accountability becomes increasingly intertwined with corporate, political, economic, and social strategy, the chess game of sustainability becomes multi-dimensional—allowing each of us to strategically execute our gambits to enhance our personal, corporate, and national competitive advantage.
In the end, the only way we can achieve environmental sustainability is if there is financial incentive to do so. There is no longer a division between carbon consciousness and job creation. Sustainability must be compatible with profitability. If we're smart, we can leverage climate change solutions not only to clean up our planet, but also to streamline our businesses and realign international political goals.
The main objectives of COP15 are to reach agreement about carbon reduction strategies and to determine guidelines for providing aid to developing countries. If those goals are achieved successfully, we can expect future climate conferences to focus on other accompanying challenges and opportunities, such as revolutionary technological innovation, massive infrastructure investment, transformational financial growth, and fundamental social behavioral change.
For more information about important topics related to sustainability and green building, follow me on my Twitter page at
SaraGBM.
Posted: 1/7/2010 6:03:00 PM by
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