The Green Puzzle: Putting It All Together

Consumers expect to double their spending on green products and services during 2008, totaling an estimated $500 billion annually or $43 billion per month.

You want some of that expenditure? If so, you have to put the pieces of the green puzzle together.

And a puzzle it is, because now going green involves far more than using products that don’t smell bad. In fact, today, 82 percent of American consumers believe it is important for companies like yours not only to use green products but to “implement environmentally friendly practices.” Indeed, consumers are looking across the entire supply chain to make sure a product is green throughout its entire life cycle, from the communities affected by lumber harvest to the children breathing the air inside a newly remodeled bedroom.

Is it worth the effort and the research required to go green? Well, 70 percent of consumers said they were “more or much more inclined” to invest in a green home (however that is defined) over a conventional home in a down market. And check out this new-home statistic from The Wall Street Journal, because it will soon apply to remodeling: “Green homes” in the Seattle area sat on the market only half as long and achieved an 11 percent premium on price. That is actually a historical event. It means that the emergence of third-party, whole-house green rating systems (LEED, NAHB, Energy Star) are finally allowing sellers to get away from square-foot pricing. The sellers, buyers and realtors can point to a reputable third-party appraisal of the home’s qualities to justify a higher price.

"Is it worth the effort and research required to go green?”

More great green stats: 63 percent of green home owners said that their green purchases were motivated by lower operating and maintenance costs that come with energy- and resource-efficient homes. However, in addition to lower operating and maintenance costs, “environmental concerns” and their “family’s health” were significant motivating factors for going green, cited by 50 percent of those surveyed (McGraw-Hill Construction). With half the people citing their family’s health as a significant motivating factor, the price of a building product or building practice will not always be the metric by which its value is appraised. The final metric may be found in a product’s performance and how it affects indoor air quality. So, when you say to a client: “Well, I can build that green with a nontoxic alternative, but it will cost you more,” the likely answer is going to be: “I don’t care if it costs a little more; my kid’s health is more important than money.”

It’s products. It’s practices.

As I have pointed out in an earlier Qualified Remodeler column, the greatest impact you can make when going green is to button up the thermal envelope; put an air-exchange strategy in place to control mold and moisture; and buy products certified by reputable third parties, which is especially important if you have not yet developed the critical judgment to determine if a product without a label is green. That said, I know that boning up on green is a tall task. Standards are proliferating, and building codes at all levels are requiring green practices and performance. With so much to read and digest, I did some advance work for you. I looked at the leading green building standards and determined five consensus green principles. I then looked at what products could help you comply with these standards. By familiarizing yourself with these consensus green principles, you can develop the confidence and critical judgment to sell green products, with or without green labels.

Green Principle No. 1

A product is green if it improves the indoor air quality or reduces chemical exposure within a home, thereby improving the health of the people who live in it or work on it. (This would include all products that reduce mold because mold can dramatically compromise indoor air quality.)

Products to help you comply: