Our choices of building products and how well we use them contribute greatly to achieving our goals of energy, water and resource efficiency, and healthier, more durable and affordable homes. But sometimes those choices also have impacts on a much larger scale. In this article, we will look at building materials in terms of “shades of green,” recognizing how well they contribute to a green home, but also measuring their benefits in terms of the larger picture of the world we live in and how our purchasing decisions affect it.
Global Citizens
We live in a global economy; many of the raw materials and products we use in building are sourced from various regions around the world. We’ve all heard the stories of sweatshops in impoverished cities and mining and manufacturing operations that pollute air and water. Methods of exploitation of natural resources have ravaged natural environments around the globe, displacing and, in some cases, endangering the indigenous people and wildlife that once occupied those areas. Certain ecosystems, like oceans, soils, rainforests, wetlands and native grasslands sequester vast amounts of carbon, keeping them from being released into the Earth’s atmosphere. Human activities related to the disturbance and destruction of these environments have played a major role in man’s contribution to global warming. When we purchase a building material, do we ask where it came from and what the impacts were to get it to our market?
It is evident that many people must believe that Big Brother is overseeing our safety or at least monitoring how the companies that supply our goods do business. With the exception of a few regulatory and licensing agencies, this is just not the case. Many building materials come from areas of the globe that have no regulation of mining and forestry practices. Growing world population numbers indicate a continued trend toward depleting natural resources at alarming rates. The planet itself is suffering from ozone damage and toxic waste dumps, threatening numerous ecosystems to the point of collapse.
In this article, we will raise some important considerations to help you make better purchasing decisions. Green products promote a conscious effort not only to increase building efficiencies, but also to reduce the impacts on the larger community, whether locally or globally. To help you become educated consumers, we want you to know the right questions to ask to get…
The Whole Truth
The market is overflowing with new technologies and new products, constantly expanding with more choices. The construction industry is also in transition, and, we are happy to report, it reflects green going mainstream. And it’s not just the building industry, it is all of the supporting industries as well. Home inspectors are learning to inspect for green features in homes, real estate professionals are learning to market them, and product manufactures are improving building materials to build them with. But it can take time to turn big ships around. Being green is popular now. And everyone wants to be popular, don’t they?
“Greenwashing” is the term coined to describe false claims made about products’ green features. Many manufacturers have jumped on the green bandwagon by looking at every possible attribute that might make a product fit into some green claim and then carefully wording their claims to trick you into thinking their product is green. Research studies have shown that as much as 98 percent of all green marketing claims are either false or misleading.
Greenwashing can take many forms. We have seen product manufacturers referencing credits available from green building programs in their product advertisements without ever saying that their product meets any of those criteria. We have seen creative little green logos on labels intended to give the impression that some credible authority has verified their claims. Although some attempts are being made to police marketing claims being made about materials and products, there really are not enough resources available to administer this function at every level of the marketplace.
Remember, all marketing is intended to sell you something. We all have to do our homework. Even those of us who work in green building have to rely on credible third-party sources to verify, test and compare products. Most third-party verification sources specialize in particular product groups or green features. For example, Green Seal provides testing, reporting and certification of products that have a low impact on indoor air quality. Other credible independent entities review and certify products for energy efficiency, water conservation, recycled and toxic ingredient content. So, you must be certain that any product labeling claims are from a reputable third-party source.
