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The
Opportunities of Sustainability, The Dangers of Greenwashing
By
Thomas Hirsch
Those
of us in the building industry are facing some harsh realities these days
regarding resource use.
In some ways to be an environmental builder seems to be an
oxymoron.
The process of creating, furnishing and maintaining buildings in
our industrialized society is the single largest resources consumer (and
waster) of all. For thousands of years, human beings have built shelters
for themselves using local and natural materials without 30-year mortgages
and landfills. Today the built environment in our culture is a far cry
from sustainability in any sense. “The extraction, manufacture and
transportation of building materials are major contributors to global
environmental problems.”(1.) In other words, we cannot continue on
our current path of building and inhabiting those buildings indefinitely.
We are finally starting to feel the pinch in terms of higher
utility bills, diminishing quantities of fossil fuels and raw materials,
the degradation of our natural world, and growing health care costs due to
our polluted environment (both indoor and out).
The construction industry is also the largest contributor to our local
landfill via building and remodeling scraps, packaging materials and the
disposal of whole buildings no longer deemed usable.
Unfortunately, many of these materials do not return to the earth
naturally and will remain in landfills for centuries, perhaps.
Many materials disposed of in landfills are recyclable though, if
people are willing to take the time to do so.
Landfills are filling up.
Are you ready to have the next one in your backyard?
We must ask ourselves if we have the individual and collective will
to get off the freight train we are on and make the changes necessary to
create a truly sustainable culture.
The
construction industry has slowly been responding to these problems with
the development of green building guidelines.
These ecologically oriented practices focus on conserving energy
and natural resources, protecting health, biodiversity and environmental
quality.
Standards are beginning to be developed but some are minimal and
even arbitrary. How good do we need things to be?
We must ask ourselves what is the ultimate goal and how do we get
there. The
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has created a green building rating
system called the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
program. This is a good starting point for developing sustainable
practices in the design and construction industries.
“Sustainability requires that built environments must reach a
certain level of
“greenness” if the services of nature are to remain
sufficiently viable to serve both present and future generations.” (2.)
Sustainability requires us to reorganize our way of life and bring it into
alignment with the laws of nature.
One helpful tool in helping us move in a logical sustainable path
is a set of guiding principles developed in Sweden called “The Natural
Step”. “The core teachings of The Natural Step , because they are
scientifically incontrovertible and consensually derived, offer a common
ground where people of all walks of life, of disparate beliefs and value
systems, can discuss environmental problems without drowning in details or
disputes”.(3.)
I imagine we will be hearing of and perhaps working with elements
of the Natural Step program in days to come.
We will explore The Natural Step in greater detail in a future
issue.
In
contrast to the sustainable ideal, I’m seeing another trend emerging
that is distressing.
Marketing schemes by business leaders are quite often aimed at increasing
sales, not necessarily based on the understanding needed to create
sustainability.
Much like the food labeling controversy surrounding what is
"natural" or "organic", greenwashing
is occurring in the construction industry about what practices and
materials can really be considered "green" or
"sustainable".
The interplay of forces affecting energy efficiency,
planetary/environmental impact, and particularly the health implications
are far reaching and often hidden beneath more immediate concerns of
costs, time and aesthetic standards.
When we look at the hidden costs of certain choices and begin to
examine the subtle implications of generally accepted building practices
the equation becomes a bit more unbalanced, even in the world of green
building.
One
of these hidden costs is called the “total embodied energy” (TEE).
Embodied energy is the energy needed to grow, harvest, extract,
manufacture and transport a building product. The city of Portland, Oregon
conducted a study in the mid-90’s evaluating reclaimed lumber. Buildings
were carefully hand demolished instead of being bulldozed which renders
the building materials useless.
The results showed that the recycled lumber had a much lower TEE
than new lumber.
In other words we are not currently paying the true costs of
building materials.
Government subsidies of the oil industry and the logging industry
as well as the degradation of our environment are not presently factored
into the “bottom line” when we purchase new products.
Some
examples of not so green--green building practices follow here.
Keep in mind that my standards may be more particular than others.
See what you think.
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Concrete is being
promoted as a green building material, and in some ways it is.
Fewer trees are used and it will not rot.
Nor do termites like it.
But the TEE required to make concrete is extremely high.
It has been estimated that the production of Portland Cement is
responsible for about 8% of greenhouse gas emissions.
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Steel studs, again
are durable and place a lower demand on our forest ecosystems.
Recycled steel is preferred, of course, as the manufacture of
steel from raw materials is energy intensive and polluting.
It takes nine times more energy to make and transport steel
framing than wood framing.
There are also electro-magnetic field issues associated with
steel stud work.
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Fly ash is a waste
product from the cleaning of industrial smokestacks.
This recycling effort is being promoted as an aggregate in
concrete products and drywall materials.
Unfortunately, fly ash can be comprised of toxic components and
even be radioactive.
These do not make safe building materials.
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Oriented Strand Board
(OSB) claims the use of waste wood.
It is preferred if only waste wood is used.
The glues to bind the wood chips together is formaldehyde based
and poses a threat to indoor air quality.
Non-formaldehyde based glues are being developed.
My experience with this material is that it is not a 100 year
product.
Will you be able to hand your OSB house down to your children
or grandchildren?
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Structural Insulated
Panel System (SIPS) sandwich a layer of expanded polystyrene (EPS)
foam between two layers of OSB and is hailed in some circles.
Panelized systems greatly reduce labor costs and in this case
reduce energy consumption in the operation of these buildings.
While these are worthwhile goals to strive for, what are the
costs?
While the EPS foam is manufactured without CFCs (?)and HCFCs
(?), it is made with pentane and formaldehyde, both known toxins.
The list goes on and can get complicated.
The average consumer may not have all the information to make a
reasoned choice.
Of course, there are realities and constraints we all must deal
with that often force a compromise of our ideals. The purpose here is not
to diminish any efforts being made to make positive changes.
If we become too idealistic and dogmatic we risk alienating each
other. Change
can be a slow process, particularly for the industrial/bureaucratic giant
we have come to depend upon.
Buckminster Fuller used to say there is a gestation period for new
ways of thinking and being.
This one may be a generation or so long.
Let's hope we have the luxury of time.
“The
world we have created today, as a result of our thinking thus far, has
problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we
created them.”
Albert Einstein.
References:
(1.)A
Primer on Sustainable Building ;
Dianna Lopez Barnett & William Browning; Rocky Mountain
Institute, 1995
(2.)
Using The Natural Step As A Framework Toward The Construction and
Operation of Fully Sustainable Buildings; Duke Castle; Oregon Natural
Step Construction Industry Group, 2001
(3.)
Taking the Natural Step ; Paul Hawken; IN CONTEXT : A Quarterly Of
Humane Sustainable Culture, 1995
(4.)
Architectural Resource Guide: Architects/Designers/Planners for Social
Responsibility; edited by David Kibbey, self published, 1998
(5.)
Prescriptions for a Healthy House; Paula Baker-Laporte; New Society
Publishers, 2001
(6.)
The Art of Natural Building; edited by Joseph Kennedy, Michael
Smith & Catherine Wanek;
New
Society Publishers, 2002
Harmony
Home Construction, LLC.
8122 Barney Road
Traverse City,
Michigan 49684
Ph: 1-877-45-GREEN Fx: 231-932-9193
info@harmonyhomeconstruction.com
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