Avoid Greenwashers' False Claims: How Do I Know I'm Buying Green?
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 2007
By Eric Corey Freed
3. How is the material delivered and installed?
-Did it travel less than 500 miles to get to you?
-Does installation require additional chemicals or materials for finishing?
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4. How is the material maintained and operated?
-Is it durable? Can it be repaired easily?
-Does it require continual energy, batteries or replacement parts?
-Does it need to be painted?
5. How healthy is the material?
-Does it outgas harmful chemicals?
-Can you install it without gloves or a mask?
-Is it a potential allergen or carcinogen?
6. What do we do with the material once we’re done with it?
-Can it disassemble easily?
-Is it recyclable or biodegradable?
-Can it be reused?
Case Study: How Green Is Concrete?
Here’s the inconvenient truth: There is no perfect material. Everything has positive and negative environmental aspects. Here’s a scenario: You’re replacing the carpeting in your bedroom with a wood floor. Should you choose bamboo that was sustainably harvested but came from 3,000 miles away? Or would it be better to select conventionally harvested wood from trees grown locally?
Many times, there’s no clear answer. To illustrate, let’s answer six green material questions about concrete, one of the most common building materials.
1. Where does concrete come from? Concrete is natural, made of sand, Portland cement, stone and water.
Verdict: GOOD
2. What are the byproducts of making concrete? The chief ingredient, Portland cement, requires an immense amount of energy to produce, the byproduct of which are greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Verdict: BAD
3. How is concrete delivered and installed? Concrete can be made locally or even right on the job site. The sand and water are local, but the Portland cement and some rock have to be shipped long distances.
Verdict: FAIR
4. How is concrete maintained and operated? Concrete is durable, can be left unpainted and is virtually maintenance free.
Verdict: GOOD
5. How healthy is concrete? Concrete is inert and does not release any harmful chemicals.
Verdict: GOOD
6. What do we do with concrete once we’re done with it? Technically recyclable, concrete could potentially be reused, though this doesn’t happen as often as it should.
Verdict: FAIR
If the most significant problem with concrete is the Portland cement, maybe we can use something else to change that bad verdict to fair or good. Fly ash, the soot byproduct of coal-fired electric plants, can substitute for 15 to 50 percent of the Portland cement in concrete. Currently, this saves 44 trillion BTUs (British thermal units) of energy annually in the United States. In addition, putting fly ash, which contains mercury from coal combustion, into concrete may help prevent fly-ash mercury from entering the air and water.