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Strides in Green Building Noted on Eve of Earth Day
Home building is at the brink of a new era in which the line between traditional and green building is starting to fade, NAHB leaders said at a press teleconference on April 19, just days before Earth Day.
“Since the 1990s, we have been preparing our members for the time when green building goes mainstream,” NAHB Executive Vice President Jerry Howard said during the teleconference. On Earth Day 2006, I think the goal is in sight. We are that close.”
According to a recent survey conducted by NAHB and McGraw Hill Construction, there has been a 20% increase since last year in builders dedicated to green building issues. The number is expected to rise by another 30% in 2007 to 64% of builders either heavily or moderately involved in green building projects, the survey said.
Howard and NAHB Green Building Subcommittee Chair Ray Tonjes, a custom builder in Austin, Texas, attributed the soaring numbers to the increased availability of energy-efficient materials and to education — both for builders and for home buyers.
“Green homes are equipped with more efficient heating and cooling systems and energy-efficient appliances and lighting, and they use less water, all resulting in lower monthly utility bills. Their use of recycled materials will further help to conserve natural resources,” Tonjes said.
Tom Kenney, vice president of contract research for the NAHB Research Center, agreed: “Over the past decade, material suppliers have developed alternatives to lumber, since old-growth solid lumber is such a highly valued and increasingly scarce resource,” he told callers. “These engineered materials are resource-efficient and are currently used throughout the country.”
“We can call green building mainstream when it doesn’t look or feel significantly different from the kinds of homes that buyers are used to — and when we know that consumers are ready to buy them,” Howard said.
“When the survey asked home builders why they are building green, 92% said it was ‘because it’s the right thing to do.’ I am certainly not surprised. Home builders want to do the right thing in the communities where they live and where they do business. They always have done that,” Howard said.
Craig Havenner, a builder and developer at The Christopher Companies in Northern Virginia, is dealing with a mandate to build green in Arlington County, where it’s required for multifamily construction like the project he’s beginning.
And where it’s not mandated, he’s hoping that the economics of a free market will enable more single-family builders and remodelers to choose from a wealth of green products at a competitive price.
“When you hear a term like smart growth or green building, consumers say, ‘Hey, that sounds cool.’ But the devil is in the details,” Havenner said. “Philosophically, green building is a good thing. Of course it makes sense to us. But at the same time, we are dealing with an affordable housing crisis. As more and more people get involved in green building, as it goes mainstream, suppliers will become more adept and the prices will go down.”
Doug Smith, of Miller and Smith, compared green building with special wiring packages — an option that has turned into a standard feature. As green building practices such as panelized construction become more commonplace, "I think we are 24 months away from green building becoming the standard way to build," Smith said, "especially in the major metropolitan markets, and absolutely if energy prices continue to go up, it will expedite it." Miller and Smith builds homes in the Washington, D.C. area and on the Delaware shore.
Complete survey results will be available from McGraw Hill Construction in May. For additional information about NAHB green building programs, click here.
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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