Peter Simpson
Sun
Not long ago an appeal to consider significant green concepts in homebuilding would have prompted an industry response that might have sounded like this: “Go away, you granola-eating, hemp-wearing, Kumbaya-singing, flower-picking, sandal-wearing, bongo-drumming freak.”
Nowadays? Not so much.
Green building — with its environmentally-conscious construction-techniques and innovative building-products designed to reduce energy and water consumption, and enhance a family’s comfort and health, is gaining acceptance and is at the tipping point of entering the mainstream of homebuilding.
I remember the first National Green Building Conference in the U.S. in 1999. Exhibitors outnumbered visitors in the display hall; you could have fired a cannon and not hit anyone. Today the annual conference — with seminars, networking and sold-out trade show — draws capacity crowds.
A ”Google” on “steel building” on the Web generates 69.2 million results; “concrete building,” 78.6 million results; “wood building,” a predictable 102 million. But “green building” will generate 189 million results. Look out world, the Green Wave is upon us.
Herein lies the challenge. There are so many green brands, it is confusing for builders and likely doubly confusing for consumers.
I suspect few buyers are walking into show homes looking for green components. If a builder plastered a show home with signs promoting green building, it might prompt the occasional question from an inquisitive visitor. But if the prospective buyer doesn’t like the kitchen cupboards, backyard or master suite, forget the green stuff, it’s off to the next show home.
Green building is not new. The use of resource-efficient building design and materials actually dates back to the 1960s with framing techniques that reduced lumber usage and improved energy efficiency. (I don’t recall that. Then again, if you remember the ’60s you probably weren’t part of it.)
Anyway, in the mid ’80s I tried to persuade Toronto builders they needed to pay attention to the amount of wood waste they were generating on the jobsite.
I knew how to quantify the volume but I had to give the builders a picture of what the massive pile would look like. We used this description: “The amount of dimensional lumber waste (2×4, 2×6) generated by the homebuilding industry in the Greater Toronto area would fill the Skydome football field to a height of five storeys.”
That graphic visual aid did the trick. Everyone could visualize the mass. The responses were, “wow, that’s a heck of a lot of wasted lumber – and money!” Builders bought in to the program, which we coined Making a Molehill out of a Mountain, and another rung on the green ladder was climbed.
A few weeks ago I spoke at a workshop presented by the Greater Vancouver Regional District. There were eight other Vancouver-based speakers who shared experiences with green building, including case studies and excellent examples of leading-edge residential projects. The workshop, entitled Building Blocks for Building Green, was one of the best forums of its type anywhere.
Builders who resist even a cursory examination of green building strategies are somewhat surprised when they learn they are already incorporating many green features in their homes – energy-efficient windows/doors/heating systems/appliances, finger-jointed framing lumber, faucet and shower flow resistors, low-flush toilets, mold-resistant drywall and engineered-wood beams.
It’s not really a quantum leap to the next plateau, which might include dual-
flush toilets, low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, or recycled content in building materials.
If builders are considering launching a green project, they must add to their team a green building consultant who will provide advice on the most environmentally beneficial strategies that can be implemented within the budget, and be marketable to consumers. There is a cost premium to building green, so the resistance is understandable. With more widespread acceptance and implementation, these costs, up to 10% higher than conventional practices, will likely moderate.
One innovative project worth singling out is Pomaria, an apartment tower under construction in downtown Vancouver. The management team, which included consultant reSource Rethinking Building, made sure green and sustainable features were understandable to buyers and sales staff.
Educating the buyers and unifying the green message in all printed promotion and website material was critical to the project’s success. Reaction to the green components was positive once potential buyers fully understood the significance and uniqueness of Pomaria, which included geo-thermal heating and cooling, energy- and water-saving measures, large opening windows and cross-ventilation, and a host of other environment-sensitive features. Buyers liked the notion of living in a healthier environment and this “icing on the cake” helped them finalize their purchase decisions.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association of B.C. is rolling out BuiltGreen, an initiative which encourages builders to use technologies, products and practices that improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality, reduce maintenance and preserve natural resources. Achieving the standards required for BuiltGreen status must be certified by independent, third-party testing and verification.
Although there have been a few scattered BuiltGreen homes constructed in B.C., Morningstar Homes has decided to walk the talk and build Canada’s first complete BuiltGreen community in the Yorkson area of Langley. Homes will go on sale this month and representatives from all levels of government are expected to attend the opening. This move is significant because Morningstar is a rising star on the single-family homes front and its president, Dale Barron, is a stickler for research and detail.
Forget about cautiously sticking a toe in to test the waters, Morningstar is aggressively cannonballing into the green-building pool because Barron and his enthusiastic team believe there will be sufficient interest in this type of home to quickly fill an entire community.
I don’t want to steal Morningstar’s thunder, and you will hear much more about this project in the near future, but features include the use of sustainable materials and construction techniques, enhanced stormwater management, even an assortment of products with recycled content.
Other builders will be watching this project with great interest. If it is a sales success, others will jump on board. This will be how the green-building movement will nudge closer to the mainstream.
When U.S. builders – some with decades of experience, others with just a few years – were asked recently why they are building green, their No. 1 answer was this: “It is the right thing to do.”
My daughters will be pleased I wrote this column. This world will be theirs some day. Peter Simpson is chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. E-mail [email protected].
© The Vancouver Sun 2006