Building Green:
Treading Lightly Toward Sustainability
Green Building seeks to lessen the environmental impacts of construction and promote high performance buildings that contribute to general sustainability. This has been defined as “providing for the needs of the present without detracting from the ability to fulfill the needs of the future.”
The principles that guide Green Building include improving: energy efficiency and conservation, indoor environmental quality, resource and material efficiency, occupancy health and productivity, and environmental quality including air, water, land, limited resources and ecosystems.
The U.S. Green Building Council, of which my company is a member, has developed a rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to evaluate the extent to which new large commercial, institutional, and mid-to-high-rise residential buildings fulfill these goals. Similar standards of performance have been developed for smaller residential buildings and existing buildings undergoing alteration.
My involvement in this movement began more than 15 years ago, when I built the first of several homes integrating these principles. From site development that had a minimal impact on the natural terrain, to the careful use of precious resources (like Redwood) and alternative materials and methods, to employing renewable energy, I have been committed to Green Building since before the term became popular.
My team includes builders with experience in Structural Insulated Panels, Rammed Earth, and alternative renewable energy such as photovoltaic solar and wind power. We implement the following principles when we build:
Purchase sustainably-harvested lumber; reduce the original waste generated while building; re-use materials that have been salvaged but still have value; purchase materials from local suppliers also committed to Green principles to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation; carefully recycle debris.
I have personally walked the talk, having lived off the grid for a time of nearly 10 years. I invite you to let me enable your journey toward the sustainable future.
