Green VS Sustainable

The Green word has many people confused about what Green really means. Many are struggling to find the balance between renewable, sustainable, recyclable, LEED, energy efficient, net zero, carbon foot print, certified products, low VOC, air quality and a myriad of other green words.
So what is the ultimate goal trying to be achieved? Navigating through saving the environment, cleaner and healthier products, energy efficiency or sustainable products can be difficult. Special interest groups want to push their agenda within the green communities and business are trying to gain some profit from the emphasis being put on this topic.
Finding the proper information is important for balancing our lives in a green world. Similar to the health and wellness industry that one day says this vitamin is drastically important and the next it is not, living green is in this phase today. Do some research and understand what "Green" really means.
Going green is here to stay and needs to be in the minds of every person on this globe if a change is really going to take place.

Can a product be Green and sustainable? This is a difficult question and it can be a yes or a no. Being green is one thing and being sustainable is another and finding the products that are both takes some research. First understanding the difference between green and sustainable may clarify a few points. Using products that are used in the home building industry have some good examples. Also understanding the lifecycle of a products helps to determine whether the product can be both.
Take an energy efficient window as one example. It can be considered green if it reduces wasted energy in a home and fits the guidelines within the LEED Certified program. But if this window is manufactured in a way that it harms the environment or workers and can not be recycled it can not be sustainable. Following the lifecycle of this window can determine if it can be considered sustainable. Many window companies can provide this information to help with the lifecycle.
Now look at a product that uses energy such as a home appliance. Go to an appliance store and notice the yellow energy guide sticker. The measurement determines whether the appliance will save energy over your existing appliance. Most new appliances will save over older models. It can be manufactured with recycled products in the safest environment and from products that will not harm the environment after it is turned into waste or recycled. It can be considered green. But the power that runs the appliance is not green such as coal powered electricity then the appliance is not sustainable. If the electricity comes from a clean source such as wind, solar or hydro then it can become sustainable.
Learning the life cycle of a product can be very interesting to some people. Many companies go to extreme measures to manufacture in an environmentally green way and there are companies that don't.
Some composite decking products are excellent examples of a 100% recycled, green and sustainable product. It can be manufactured from old recycled wood products such as pallets and crates blended with recycled plastics such as milk containers or plastic bags. These recycled products are ground up and heated with a nature gas furnace. Then the heated wood and plastic is extruded through a die to form the shape of the final decking product. Some may say this is not green because it uses plastic, but it did not manufacture the plastic for the decking product it is eliminating the waste that would normally end up in a land fill and never biodegrade. This could be considered sustainable as long as there is waste that needs recycled. Some may debate this and say it can not be green.
One way to help decipher some of these debates is deciding if it is helping the environment, protecting every ones health, using clean energy sources and making our world a better place to live. Even if some one determines that it can not be classified as green. Creating a world with sustainable products will help provide for the future generations. So is lumber green and sustainable? Keep following this lens to find out.

If you are looking for more information about green building. Join me at Green Building Ideas for some great articles on many different topics like:

Building Code Caution
Reclaimed Wood Equals Green
Green in 2009
Catching Rain Water
Showrooms, Evolution of Construction
DOE-Building Energy Codes
And many More

Green Building Ideas

Building Green May Be a Solution for Our Economic Crisis!!!!

When the subject of lumber is renewable, recyclable and sustainable come up in conversations surrounding green products many have differing opinions. For decades the lumber industry has been bashed for bad practices in managing our environment. Yes in the past there have been some bad practices but in the United States our forests are managed in ways they many don't even understand. When some talk about the lumber industry they portray companies that are eliminating the forests. That is just not the case.
Let's look at the nature life cycle of a forest if humans never stepped foot inside. Trees grow and drop seeds and more trees grow. The forest continues overtime to thicken and the large trees kill out the smaller trees creating dead down fall. Over years some of this down fall decays and returns to the earth. This process continues to create overgrown forests and more dry trees. Fire is eventually the remedy that cleanses the forest and starts the process all over. Nature causes such as beetles can kill off a complete forest and again fire is the remedy to restore the forest.
A well managed forest can be looked at similar the life cycle just described, cleaning out the old to allow for the smaller new trees to flourish. Creating a continuing life cycle of usable products that can be recycled that is not harmful or toxic in any way.
Many claim that steel studs are greener than wood studs. If the life cycle of a steel stud versus the life cycle of a wood stud is compared, lumber is far greener than steel. It takes more energy to create a steel stud and the renewable factors of wood are far better. Yes steel can be recycled but with the use of far more energy. Ore comes from the ground and is not renewable like growing a tree.
Not all lumber companies manage the forests like they should. The same as all car companies don't produce fuel efficient cars. So finding a certified green dealer is important if you want to make sure your wood products are considered green. The two leading wood certification programs in the US are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative). USGBC only recognizes FSC while NAHB National Green Building Standards recognizes both.
So from this is wood "Green and Sustainable"? You decide, please enter your opinion in the poll below.

In February 2008 the U.S. Department of Energy unveiled the Builders Challenge. This program is designed to give the consumer a rating scale similar to the MPG on a vehicle. This new scale is called the Energy Smart Home Scale or E-Scale and is designed to compare the energy efficiency of a home. The scale ranges from 150 - 0 with 100 being the average of a new home today based on the normal building codes. A home 10 years ago would fall 130 - 150 so a home with a 70 rating would be 30% more efficient than an average new home. A net zero home would produce as much energy as it uses from such sources as wind or solar power.
Homes today account for nearly 21% of all energy consumed and are on the rise with the construction of larger homes. By providing the consumer with an easy method of rating takes the guess work out of whether they are getting the energy efficient they planned. This will be very similar to the yellow energy guide found on appliances.
The Department of Energy has challenged the home building industry to build 220,000 high efficient homes by 2012. This is a good move to try and create measurable standards in home efficiency. This does not mean the home is green or certified but it will help with consumer confidence. The LEED certification process has steps to ensure a green certified home but many builders have found ways to get a home certified at the lower level so they can market them as green. This process does not ensure an efficient home. Now the consumer can compare homes and see the difference. But this is not a requirement so not all homes will have this rating. The Department of Energy's goal is to provide affordable net zero housing by 2030.

The DOE is making great strides to improving energy efficency. This takes time and resources to keep moving forward. Check out the Departmant of Energy site often for updates.

Preorder the new 2009 code books from the link in the next post or from here.

2009 International Building Code: Looseleaf Version (International Building Code (Looseleaf))

2009 International Energy Conservation Code: Softcover Version (International Energy Conservation Code (Paper))

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