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Green Building: Catch the Wave or Watch It
 It is 1975.You are the CEO of General Motors or Ford. Yes, gas prices have shot up and gas shortages occasionally rear their ugly head, but that’s nothing to be alarmed about.
Let the Japanese offer fuel efficiency. For that matter, let the Swedes offer safety. Why go to the risk and expense of implementing new technologies and re-training your trades? After all, you offer car models that have the style, sex appeal and size that Americans want — and buy.
Life is good.
Now, fast-forward to 2006. Ignoring the early warning signs and your competition’s advancements three decades ago has been costly, and your company hasn’t been the same since. You’ve spent billions in retooling and restructuring ― essentially, playing catch-up. Even so, your share of the market is much smaller, and it continues to shrink.
Is there a parallel to avoid when building green?
Green builders are on the cutting edge of the industry, but those who concentrate only on fuel and home efficiency are missing a tremendous opportunity.
Performance, reliability and durability are as integral to green building as efficiency — and all blend together to bolster resale value. Builders who can prove to prospective home buyers that their homes deliver these benefits will:
- Increase sales
- Improve quality
- Motivate their trades
- Build brand equity
Help Buyers Understand
Consumers won’t buy anything they don’t understand. Capture their attention and make a connection with something they can easily grasp ― like comparison charts. And make sure your charts share one common message.
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A Green Home Saves You Money |
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Traditional Home |
21st Century High Performance |
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Utility Costs |
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Electricity |
$1,200 |
$960 |
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Natural gas |
$2,094 |
$1,674 |
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Water and sewer |
$1,200 |
$960 |
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Tax Credits |
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Federal |
$0 |
$1,500 |
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State |
$0 |
$750 |
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Total Savings |
$0 |
$3,150 |
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Sales Price of Home |
$225,000 |
$230,000 |
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Overall Cost to Own — First Year |
$229,494 |
$226,850 |
The chart above shows potential buyers that the higher cost of your quality home will be more than offset by the green benefits listed. If you have trouble compiling the costs and cost savings, get your local utility companies and lenders to help you.
Let Buyers Test Drive Your Homes
GM and Ford are learning the hard way that having the right product is the only way to build brand image and increase sales. But they can show consumers that they are learning because car buyers can test drive their products and measure performance.
You can show potential buyers the quality, innovation and value you build in your homes by letting them test drive them, too. How? Through performance testing.
There are many tools available today — blower doors, duct blasters, infrared photography, etc. ― that demonstrate and measure the performance of your green building techniques and yield results that consumers can understand. Blower doors, for instance, are calibrated fans temporarily mounted in a house door to measure the "leakiness" — or, in your case, the absence of leakiness ― of your house. A duct blaster is a similar tool that measures the integrity of ductwork.
Testing each home you build with tools such as these also provides the opportunity to improve your standards and enable you to benchmark and measure success.
Motivate Your Trade Partners to Be Green
A lot of the success of your green building program will hinge on your trade partners. Getting them on board and motivated may be easier than you think.
Because your trades are on the job, they know what works, what doesn’t work and why. However, they are often frustrated because they are never asked — or heard. So ask, listen and make them part of the process.
Including them is the most powerful way you can tell them that they are important, and that the quality of their work really matters to you and to the families who will live in the homes they build.
Another way to motivate them is to let them know how they contribute. For instance, let them know how many trees they are saving and how much they are reducing building costs through your recycling program. You might also consider offering them green bonuses that are directly tied to waste reduction or another goal. Show them the duct blaster test results ― with and without properly sealed ductwork — so that they, like your home owners, can see the quality of their workmanship.
Then show them the results of home owner surveys in which new owners express their gratitude for their home’s green quality standards.
These motivating principles actually are applicable to all members of your team — supervisors, subcontractors and company employees — and will go a long way to instill pride in their work and help you become the best builder in town.
Create a Meaningful Green Label
Part of the goal of well-built green homes is that they don’t “look green” on the outside, but inside, they offer superior performance. An intrinsic challenge to green builders is how best to communicate the home’s value to all future home buyers.
 One effective way is to create and prominently place a green designer label or logo in each home. The Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico created an effective logo that combines locally appealing architecture with a touch of nature that adds an organic quality.
Like the HBA logo, your green label should be alive, meaningful ― and attractive enough so that your home owners will value it and want it displayed prominently. It also should reinforce their smart choice to buy green and serve as a subtle reminder, too. When it does, they probably will tell friends and associates how they are helping the planet. They’ll also delight in bragging about you.
This consumer buzz will increase referral sales and directly contribute to the higher resale value that is commanded by your measurable green builder performance standards.
Don’t just leave it up to home owners to understand, however. Ensure that appraisers, lenders, energy raters and real estate agents have received necessary green training and understand the superior value of your homes, too.
As a green builder, the facts are on your side. But you do have to make sure they are understood.
Sara Lamia is president of Home Building Coach, Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo. She helps to create home buyer demand with her green marketing strategies, the “Your 21st Century High Perfomance Home" DVC and the “Housebirth" workbook. For more information, visit www.buildingcoach.com.
Entry Period Underway for Green Building Awards
Entries are now being sought for NAHB’s National Green Building Awards, which recognize individuals, companies and organizations for helping to move green into the mainstream of the housing industry through their designs and construction practices.
The annual awards will be presented during ceremonies at the association’s National Green Building Conference, which will be held in St. Louis on March 25 to 27.
The awards honor achievements in seven categories:
- Advocate of the Year
- Green Building Program of the Year
- Outstanding Green Marketing Program
- Green Project of the Year — Single-Family
- Green Project of the Year — Multifamily
- Green Project of the Year — Land Development
- Green Project of the Year — Remodeling
Members are invited to submit a completed application package by Dec. 29, 2006. For project awards, construction must have been started by June 2005 and substantially completed by December 2006.
To enter by mail, send a hard copy and a disk of the completed application. For an application form and instructions on how to send logos, project photos and other artwork, click here.
For more information, e-mail Emily English at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8366.
 Get Green Building Intelligence Today at BuilderBooks.com
“Residential Green Building SmartMarket Report,” available through BuilderBooks.com, addresses the growing trends and opportunities in green home building.
The report provides the results of market research conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction and NAHB about green building in home construction.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
Save the Date for 2007 National Green Building Conference
Mark your calendar for March 25-27 for the National Green Building Conference. Visit www.nahb.org/greenbuilding for more information.
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