Green Building: The View from Here

GreenBuild 2007, the U.S. Green Building Conference's annual shindig, has just ended in Denver, Colorado, with some 12,000 professionals traversing a jam-packed schedule on everything from daylighting to displaced communities.

With green building on the ascendancy, the conference was a heady, high-energy, target-rich networking opportunity . . . I guess. I don't really know -- I didn't go this year. After seven consecutive weeks of conference travel, my home was plenty green for me.

But I watched Greenbuild from afar, as a consumer of what seemed like an endless stream of green-building press releases. From where I sit -- in my home base, some 1,260-odd miles away from the conference site -- it appeared as if nearly all 12,000 conference attendees were touting some kind of product introduction, opinion poll, trends report, award presentation, partnership formation, organizational launch, or some other press-worthy announcement. And then, of course, there's the steady parade of releases about buildings achieving LEED certification. In a few cases, press releases took pains to alert the media simply that their products were "on display" at the event. Stop the presses!

I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm simply amazed. And a little bleary-eyed from poring over all this editorial handiwork.

Some of it seems worthy of sharing. To wit:

Autodesk, which produces the computer-aided design software used by nearly every architect these days, announced a partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council to "make sustainable design easier and more efficient through the use of technology." That represents a strong vote of confidence in the future of green building. As enabling tools become more widely available -- or, better yet, integrated into professionals' existing toolkits -- green practices are destined to become habits instead of hassles.

Another promising USGBC partnership involves Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit group that offers financial products and services that support affordable housing and community development. The USGBC-Enterprise collaboration will develop training programs to enable affordable housing developers to incorporate green building into their developments, and to create ways for them to participate in USGBC programs by cutting the costs of LEED certification and verification.

This, too, is an encouraging trend. Affordable housing groups increasingly are adopting green-building techniques, constructing quality houses that are cheaper to build, cheaper to live in, with fewer environmental impacts. Moreover, given that Habitat for Humanity, to name one such group, is among the top-20 largest builders in the U.S., this will help move the needle on environmental home building overall.

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry announced the latest batch of Cradle-to-Cradle certifications, recognizing products that achieve "environmentally-intelligent design." According to the MBDC Web site:

This means using environmentally safe and healthy materials; design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies for social responsibility.

Among this year's newest C2C awardees is Steelcase, for its Answer workstation system, along with PolyVision, a Steelcase subsidiary, for its whiteboards made of "e3 environmental ceramicsteel," which contains no heavy metals, VOCs, or other toxic materials. Another C2C recipient is Icestone, a durable surface for countertops and floors made from 100% recycled glass.

And then there's the Vinyl Institute, which made a full-court-press this year to promote the "energy-saving, environmental and health benefits" of vinyl as a building product. The vinyl folks' efforts to make vinyl "green" is one of the more contentious issues in the green-building world. Many environmental activists opposed the use of vinyl products in LEED projects, noting that the production of PVC releases dioxin, a highly toxic persistent organic pollutant. The cult documentary (and 2002 Sundance Film Festival winner) Blue Vinyl focused on vinyl's environmental evils.

A few years ago, when the U.S. Green Building Council proposed to award LEED credits for buildings that eliminate the use of vinyl altogether, the industry went on the offensive -- not merely to kill the proposal but to make the case that vinyl has strong environmental attributes. The ensuing debate nearly brought down the USGBC but, in the end, the vinyl industry prevailed. A USGBC task force found that "the available evidence does not support a conclusion that PVC is consistently worse than alternative materials on a life cycle environmental and health basis."

Hardly a ringing endorsement, of course, but that hasn't stopped the vinyl industry from claiming greatness -- or, rather, greenness. A few snippits from its recent press releases:

Heightened interest in vinyl as a preferred material for "green" buildings was one of the most significant developments at the three-day GreenBuild International Conference & Expo in Denver, according to industry officials. . . .

"We were amazed at the traffic at our booth," said Vinyl Institute president Tim Burns. "More than ever before, architects, designers and builders came by to tell us of their increased interest in vinyl as a key factor in sustainability." . . .

Architects and designers are increasingly finding that vinyl's infinite flexibility, durability, and well-established, energy-saving qualities represent one of the most effective ways of meeting the evolving standards for green buildings, noted Vinyl Institute president Tim Burns.

And so it goes. The green-building industry is coming of age. And with that maturity comes growth, profitability -- and big, well-heeled players seeking to stake their claim. In doing so, they often find that there's enormous profit potential to be had by shaping the rules in their favor, never mind that doing so all but thwarts the environmental and social benefits intended in the first place.

We've seen it in organics. We're seeing it in green buildings. We'll soon, I predict, be seeing even more of it as companies seek to claim "climate neutral" status.

There's nothing wrong with big, well-heeled players coming in to these spaces, of course. We need their market clout and political standing to help make sustainability a standard operating procedure. But we need integrity, ethics, and responsibility. We need standards of excellence. And we need vigilance.

That's the lesson I learned at this year's Greenbuild, even from more than a thousand miles away.

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Comments

[Preston]

Nice write up. I'd like to have been there myself, but the updates have been good and the USGBC's blog has been informative. I guess next year in LA?!

[Steve Voien]

Hi Joel,

Joel, good posting. There's a social aspect that balances the environmental and potential health aspects you describe. For low income people, vinyl is way cheaper than any alternative. It requires no costly maintenance and lasts forever. Plus it isn't wood, and it obviates the need for paint and those impacts. I'm not running down to Home Depot for a roll of the stuff, but I think it's important for us green proponents to understand that for many people potential health drawbacks that mght happen someday are less compelling than today's need to get some affordable siding up that will keep the rain out and the house warm. I'm surprised the the Vinyl Institute (what a wonderful title: President, Vinyl Institute) isn't making this argument. It's the most convincing one they have. And it illustrates how little room to maneuver low income people somtimes have when it comes to making healthy and environmentally sound choices.

[Bill Walsh]

I enjoyed "The View from Here" observations of GreenBuild but must correct one glaring inaccuracy. The US Green Building Council has not made a final determination about vinyl. Your posting quotes a draft document that has the words "Do Not Quote" printed, if memory serves, on every page. More to the point, this draft has almost certainly changed in response to the hundreds of pages of thoughtful comments submitted by not only environmentalists, but academics and experts in the field of life cycle assessment. According to the USGBC we can expect the final report soon.

For the time being, the final word on vinyl building materials is to "AVOID" see, www.greenspec.co.uk. Australia's analog to the LEED program, Green Star, offers 2 credits for vinyl reduction in green buildings. Here in US, the Green Guide for Health Care www.gghc.org, also cites vinyl reduction as a means of obtaining health-based green building credits.

Companies as diverse as Kaiser-Permanente Health Care to Firestone Building Products (membrane roofs) have phased-out PVC as part of their move toward sustainability.

The president of the Vinyl Institute might have detected "heightened interest" in vinyl while safely insulated from reality in his exhibition booth. Had he wandered the cavernous exhibition hall however, he would have seen that companies which manufacture both vinyl and non vinyl products -- flooring for example -- kept their vinyl line under wraps at GreenBuild.

I understand that the nature of the of the original post was to use the Vinyl Institute’s press release, and others coming out of GreenBuild, to make a point distinct from their content. But you had to be there to see the real sign of the times posted on vendor booths up and down the convention aisles: "PVC Free," "Contains No PVC, " and perhaps the most hopeful "Not Just PVC Free" are selling points to the green building market.

[Ed]

Hyping the supposed "low cost" of vinyl is akin to prescribing a burgers and fries diet because of their "low cost" today.

[Hugh Toner]

Dear Mr. Makower,

Thanks for your 12,000 mile “view” of GreenBuild 2006. I must note one point that needs to be addressed. The concept of green building is an important one but one that requires a depth of understanding greater than a casual reader of your “Two Steps Forward” blog might have. Case in point – you note that “environmental activists opposed the use of vinyl products in LEED projects … noting that the production of PVC releases dioxin.” In fact, EPA data indicates that concrete, copper, and aluminum manufacturing are larger sources of dioxin than PVC production. On the other hand, vinyl is reported to be one of the most energy efficient building materials to manufacture. Focusing on one attribute, rather than making a full evaluation of all of a product’s environmental attributes (as well as performance and economics) is contrary to LEED principles.

[anonymous]

Great post altogether...I just wish this were not a forum for reprinting trade association press releases.

[Jeff Stephens]

As mentioned in my post (http://planetrelations.com/archives/34), I was at GreenBuild. Is gathering 13,000 people in one location to talk about sustainability sustainable? What about next year in LA with 25,000 and limited transit? At what point are there diminishing returns for the environment?

[Dana]

Nice write up. I thought your take was very interesting especially as a view from the outside. I too have looked at it from the outside and find that the USGBC's draft report is being held hostage by those that would be dealt a serious blow to what they've worked so hard for. Bill Walsh's comments about the hundreds of pages of thoughtful comments by environmentalist and academicians and experts does not mean anything if they are wrong. Quantity does not equal truth. In regards to vinyl, I am expanding my home and see many very useful products made of vinyl. If I can use those products and they last for 50 years or more and I don't have to paint or replace, how is that not sustainable? Also, does anyone ever talk about the manufacturing processes of other plastics or cement fiber. Does Bill walsh support the use of cement kilns or burning crude oil to manufacture those products? I'm really not interested in what people or groups have to say, I want a choice and there are those in our society that want to take that choice away from me.

[Denis Du Bois]

I was surprised not to see more lighting control vendors exhibiting at Greenbuild. Lighting controls are squarely in the intersection of green building and energy efficiency. Lighting consumes more energy than any other load in a commercial building, even though larger loads such as HVAC draw more power when they're on. When lights are on full brightness all day, they become energy hogs.

Excellent articles and podcasts from Greenbuild 2006 in Denver.