Scrutiny of Green Claims Needed
Green Builders Inc. is creating an 800-acre master-planned community with 2,000 houses that will be environmentally friendly and feature rain harvesting and energy-saving heating and cooling systems. Georgetown Village will offer 15 floor plans, from 1,800 square feet to 2,400 square feet. Several models are near completion. The homes, to be built in the next six to eight years, will be priced from the low $200,000s to the $500,000s.
While more efficient developments like these have advantages over non-green sprawl, it is still sprawl and it still has all the environmentally unfriendly aspects of low density development. Scrutiny of greenwashing has typically been reserved for corporations, but developers are becoming suspect as "green building" has become a de rigueur marketing buzzword for modern builders.
A critical consumer eye is necessary to separate true smart growth from builders claiming the green word. Green building is not simply about the individual structure. It must incorporate macro level issues of community sustainability. This is one place in which the Austin Green Building Program falls short, but which should be addressed by the LEED for Neighborhood Development program being developed by the US Green Building Council.
The Georgetown development appears to have good green intentions, including claims that "each home will be built with foam insulation in the walls and roof. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as the water heater and plumbing are centrally located to improve efficiency and the homes also are being built with recycled lumber and local natural stones." Recycled lumber sounds nice, but we're not sure Rachel Carson would approve of strip-mined limestone, even if it is local. Phrases like "environmentally friendly" and "improved efficiency" can be misleading, so it is important for builders to be specific (how much cost reduction) and qualify the terminology (duration, types of materials, usage, etc). These specific homes are expected to have 50-60% energy savings, which is pretty hot.
Sprawl is sprawl, but green sprawl is probably better than red sprawl. It is sometimes difficult to tell whether something is really green or just marketed green, so industry standards and recognized organizations have become critical, including the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED certification and
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