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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 Green building: The next wave in housing is here By Chad
Floyd,
Thanks to a new movement taking place in the housing industry known as "green building," new homes, apartments, townhouses and condominiums are being built in more environmentally friendly ways then ever before. The principles behind green building revolve around building wiser, using materials and resources more efficiently, and getting the most value out of the new homes being built today without more regulation. Builders are making great strides in using materials differently. Take the materials commonly found in homes built in the 1970s vs. today, for example. The use of plywood, has been reduced considerably. In 1978, plywood made up 89 percent of roofing products for sheathing, according to data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the NAHB Research Center. By 1999, use of plywood in roof sheathing had dropped to 27 percent. Plywood has been replaced by Oriented Strand Board, which uses crushed wood debris compacted and glued together in ways that create a stronger, more durable building material. Other parts of a home have changed as well. The use of insulated doors has nearly doubledfrom 44 percent in 1978 to 85 percent in 1999. Over the same time, use of low-E coated windows grew by almost 30 percent and the use of insulated glass increased from nearly 68 percent to 87 percent."Plastic lumber" in decks has grown steadily since 1978, helping reduce the use of redwood in decks from 20.1 percent in 1978 to 6.3 percent in 1999. Looking beyond materials, there are other things builders can do to build greener but the industry needs help from others. In Washington, DC, builders are urging Congress to provide a tax credit so that we can construct and maintain new energy-efficient single-family and multifamily housing. Builders also want Congress to pass a tax credit for homeowners for projects that increase energy efficiency in existing homes. Neighborhoods are becoming greener too, thanks to land use plans that preserve more trees and open space. One of the most important aspects of green building is "clustering" homes close to each other and within walking distance of open space areas and trees, wetlands, meadows and other natural amenities. Green building requires building with a different mindset. This means builders and local governments must work together to encourage the building of homes and communities that provide needed shelter and protect the environment. If local governments do encourage more green building, buyers could benefit because a home or a community built green often provides benefits such as lower operating and maintenance costs and increased home value in terms of resale. What are the keys to more widespread acceptance of green building practices? The housing industry believes we need more education on the part of builders and consumers, more cooperation between builders and government agencies, and more innovation on the part of product manufacturers. (Chad Floyd, who is with Chadwick Homes, is president of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia, which serves a membership of approximately 550 builders and associate members in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Heard, Meriwether, Pike, Upson and Lamar counties.)
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