A Brief History of the Green Home Movement
Elsa Noterman, Hap Haven
“Hello there, I’m a caveman and I live in the first green home. Actually it’s a bit more grey than green, but that’s what you get when you live in a cave. My friends down in the valley have greener homes but that’s because they use live saplings for roofing material. Hundreds of generations after me will use green technologies to build their homes. Our technologies, by necessity, use resources close at hand. We use and reuse everything. The environment is plentiful and always renews itself. We don’t have the technologies you have now, and let’s face it, there just aren’t many of us around. I understand that the USA now has over 300 million people. My valley has 12 people.”
Flash forward to today. . .
Many new homes are twice as energy-efficient as they were 30 years ago[1], but that’s not really saying much, is it? Houses in the 50’s and 60’s were built during an era of cheap oil. Cheap oil fueled our economic growth for several generations (yeh), but with it has brought a type of social arrogance and a disconnection from the environment (boo). The introduction of “tract” housing in the 1950s (mass produced cookie-cutter homes that utilized minimum architectural design and cheap materials) profoundly changed the face of the U.S. home building industry by eliminating many traditional means of conserving energy. Instead of building homes that took into account regional and environmental elements, “tract” housing reduced architecture to a standard formula.
Today new homes are twice as energy-efficient as they were 30 years ago.[1] This is largely due to the “green home” movement, which introduced the environmentally-conscious building techniques and technologies that are now available for new and remodeled homes. Specialized home builders began to construct “resource-efficient, environmentally sensitive homes” in the 1970s. However, the “green building” movement (a term coined by the home building industry) only began to accelerate in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It was only when the energy crisis occurred in the 1970s, that there was a dramatic reevaluation of home design.[2] The increase in oil prices led to efforts to conserve energy in home-buildings, but often only by making houses airtight rather than seeking alternatives in building design. This method of sealing homes resulted in a lack of air circulation and increased indoor air pollution, subsequently leading to health problems or “sick building syndrome.” In fact, since 1987, the Science Advisory Board of the EPA, has ranked indoor air pollution as “one of the top five risks to public health,” affecting not only the occupants but also the workers involved in the building process.[3] In addition to health concerns, modern buildings remained profligate energy consumers, using about one third of the energy and two thirds of the electricity in the U.S.[4]
Spurred by an increasing awareness of environmental issues, the growing accessibility of green technologies and the rising cost of oil, home builders gradually turned to "green" alternatives. In 1991, Austin Energy, the city’s municipally owned electric utility, began the first official green home building program in Austin, Texas. (See Table 1) The Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver then introduced the first Home Builders Associated-owned green building program in 1995. This program, know as Built Green® Colorado, has become the largest green building program in country – comprised of more than 100 builder members throughout the state. Over the last decade the Green Build movement has gained increasing momentum as green building programs formed nationwide. Over 30 of these programs have been successfully implemented and between 1990 and 2004, about 61,000 homes were built utilizing green building program guidelines.[5] In 2002 alone, more than 13,000 green homes were constructed.[6]
Even though there have been significant successes in the ‘green’ home movement, the transition to "green" in the building industry continues to face many obstacles. The acceptance of new materials and technology remains a slow and gradual process in the building industry. Many homebuilders, who are largely small business people, are often reluctant to introduce new materials and techniques unless the techniques are cheap and easy to use. The fragmented nature of the building industry also hinders efforts to achieve industry-wide changes. In fact, according to the concluding report of the meeting, Technology for a Sustainable Future Workshop on Residential Construction, held in 1994, it is estimated that it takes about seventeen years for new materials to become common in the building industry.[7]
The perception that green building is inconsistent with affordable housing has also delayed the transition to "green." However, as the Green Built Home Program of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative illustrated in their 2004 report, “The Green Built Way to Affordable Housing,” there are practical ways to incorporate greening techniques into the standard affordable housing practices.[8] The report found that affordable green housing requires an improvement in public education about green building as well as an increase in funding opportunities for programs that combine both affordable and "green" standards. The report also concluded that governmental land-use regulations could be adapted to encourage greener and more affordable housing.
In spite of some delays due to the apprehension and skepticism of the building industry and the public, the growing interest in the green home movement among many consumers as well as industry members has resulted in efforts to create a common set of guidelines for the construction of green homes. In 2005, the voluntary National Model Green Home Guidelines were released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and currently there are about 30 local and regional green building programs.[9] The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which traditionally focused on the commercial sector (considered by the building industry to be “easier to crack, with more activity and less diversity” than the home building market), has also started to develop a set of regulations for a residential initiative.[10] These guidelines (LEED-H) will establish a standardized baseline for determining the minimum standards in green home building. In August 2005, USGBC began the pilot test of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes, which will continue through spring 2007. The USGBC will then publicly launch the LEED-H rating system in June 2007. Currently there are over 800 homes involved in the LEED-H pilot program in the U.S. and more than 25 homes have already received the LEED certification as a green home.[11]
Over the last few years, the green home building movement, impelled by rising oil prices and a growing consciousness of environmental issues, has slowly, but steadily been moving into the mainstream. Increasingly, home builders are incorporating innovative technology as well as traditional architectural strategies (such as entry vestibules and porches) to reduce energy and water consumption in houses. In fact, the National Association of Home Builders estimates that by 2010 the value of the residential green building marketplace will grow from $7.4 billion (and 2% of housing) to $19-$38 billion (and 5-10% of residential construction).[12] Harvey Bernstein, vice-president of Industry Analytics and Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction also expects that within the next year, more builders will be producing green homes than those that are not. “Green home building is not a fad, but a trend, and one that is increasing at rapid rates,” asserts Bernstein. “With more builders creating green homes, and more consumers buying them, the rest of the industry will follow and increasingly begin to incorporate green features or practices into their homes and home building products.” (NAHB)
Table 1:
Active
Voluntary
Green
Building Programs in the
United States
|
|
Location
|
Program Name
|
Administration
|
Year Started
|
Number of Homes in Program
|
|
Austin, Texas
|
Austin
Energy
Green
Building
Program
|
Government
|
1991
|
1,381
|
|
Scottsdale, Arizona
|
Sustainable Building Program in the
Sonoran
Desert
|
Government
|
1998
|
25
|
|
Colorado
|
Built Green
Colorado
|
Home builders association
|
1995
|
4,000
|
|
Kitsap County, Washington
|
Build a Better Kitsap
|
Home builders association
|
1997
|
50
|
|
Clark County, Washington
|
Build a Better
Clark
|
Home builders association
|
1998
|
11 homes, 2 developments
|
|
Central New Mexico
|
Green Builder Program
|
Home builders association
|
1997
|
800
|
|
Southern Maryland
|
Builder Green
|
Home builders association
|
1999
|
NA
|
|
Atlanta, Georgia
|
Earth Craft House
|
Home builders association
|
1999
|
NA
|
Source: Mary James/National Association of Homebuilders Research Center,http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/00/000114.html#tab1
[1] Breyer, Michelle. “NAHB Conference Strives to Mainstream Green,” Home Channel News. New York: Apr 12, 2004. Vol. 30, Iss.7; pp.4-5.
[2]Cray, Dan. “15 Milestones That Changed Housing.” This Old House, 2003. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/managinghome/article/0,16417,217080-1,00.html, pp.1-16)
[3] Tibbetts, John. “Green Houses.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 104, No. 10, Oct. 1996.pp. 1036-39.
[4] (Tibbetts, 1036)
[5]“The History of Green Building- Past, Present & Future”, Mission Viejo Green Building Pilot Program
http://cityofmissionviejo.org/viewdocument.aspx?id=874
[6] (Breyer, 5)
[7] (Tibbetts, 1036-7)
[8] O’Leary, Ceara and Heather Stewart. “Report Sets Course for Low-Cost, Environmentally Responsible Housing Development.” LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) Monthly Report. Sept. 2005, Vol. XVI, Iss. IX. Novogradac & Co. www.taxcredithousing.com
[9] McLeister, Dan. “GreenHomeBuilding Guidelines Designed For Mainstream Builders.” HGTVpro.com: The Site for Homebuilding Professionals. http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/nws_ind_nws_legislat/article/0,2624,HPRO_26517_3591940,00.html
[10] World Green Building Council - http://www.worldgbc.org/default.asp?id=59, 1999 San Francisco, Founding Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Nov. 1999.
[11] http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=147
[12] “McGraw-Hill/NAHB Survey Says Number of Green Home Builders to Increase by 30% in 2006- New Report Shows How Residential Green Building Will Be Worth $19 Billion to $38 Billion By 2010”, June 6, 2006, pressrelease, http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=118595
