After several days of walking the huge expo hall floor, multiple educational sessions a few keynote addresses, I opened the Boston Globe to read an article by Alex Beam. He seems to be against the current green movement-or at least a little slanted away from it. He quotes Joseph Lstiburek who seems to think that the world should live in dark cement boxes if they want to save energy. To see how Lstiburek thinks, one need only read his article in the journal of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Any jounalist shows his intentions clearly when he quotes a man who calls Greenbuild attendees “6000 looney tunes walking around Boston.” Being from Cleveland, I don’t know if this Beam is an opinion writer, but he goes on to quote xconomy.com techie, Wade Roush. Roush thinks the green movement is in trouble, but mostly he cites examples of old technology and lack of training. He ends his column with a mention of the Green Bible-not a guide book, but a greener version of the Holy Bible of the Christian faith.
Now I think that Alex Beam could not be farther from the truth, but I was driven to contemplation on the “greenwashing” of America, how far the industry has come, and how far we have to go. The exciting thing about Greenbuild was how many people attended. Tens of thousands of attendees, from all over the globe came to find out more about what is going on here and how they can help make a change. I even met representatives from small municipalities who are responsible for the greening of their own towns. Desmond Tutu gave a keynote address-hardly a “looney tune” wandering the streets of any city.
The really great thing about the green movement in America is that it is about everything good. It recognizes that: people are healthier in green buildings, not just saving the earth; reducing CO2 emissions can save us money as well as the ozone; we like to see the outside world when we work and will work harder when we can, so buildings need to make us happier as well as save energy; and recycling is cheaper than endless consumption. I could go on all day.
However, since it has become fashionable to be green, I am seeing a huge influx of companies who are trying to talk green while not being green. It is no longer acceptable to call a product “green” just because it has some recycled product in it. Green means that it uses a higher amount of recycled content, is recyclable at the end of its life, uses less energy to produce and transport, and has a means of being recycled. Just because bamboo is easily renewable, it isn’t okay to ship it from China and veneer it to chipboard that is loaded with chemicals and adhere it to the floor with glue that makes you sick. Most people don’t understand the big picture and are easily duped by sound bites and ad gimmicks. But with the help of green conferences around the world, the public will eventually catch on. If you are trying to “green-up” your life, do a little research and make the best choices possible.
