THIS LETTER WAS PUBLISHED IN HPAC MAGAZINE.
Selling green buildings
After reading about the booming green-buildings market in the March 2005 issue ("HVAC Market Primed for a Comeback," From the Editor), I was intrigued by the comment, "Consumerism, not regulation, ultimately will be the deciding factor in environmentalism." Green buildings are different from hybrid cars in that the many parts of the building that make it environmentally friendly are visible to the naked eye, not covered by a painted pink metal-and-plastic body. Green buildings tend to be narrow and covered with oversized windows, allowing deep penetration of natural light and the ability to control temperature by opening and closing windows. If a person does not like the aesthetic qualities of glass or is disgusted by narrow buildings, he or she must be convinced to go green another way.
Green buildings should be--and are becoming--desirable not because of how they look, but because of what they do. Green buildings use fewer resources and are much less detrimental to the environment than non-green buildings. It just so happens that green buildings also are a good way to save money! Once the word "savings" or "returns" is mentioned, not much more convincing must be done. Design probably is the most important factor when building green because incorrectly designed buildings sometimes will not perform as expected, resulting in a very expensive non-green building. It is true that green buildings have a higher initial cost, but using appearance to validate the higher construction price is absurd. The fact that green buildings end up not only paying off their higher initial cost, but also save money from reduced operating should be more than enough to convince people that building green is the way to go. There also is the little fact that they are better for the environment, too! Instead of using looks to sell, use function.
Ryan Velasco
The University of Arizona (student)
Tucson, Ariz.
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Comments: 2
After publishing two books on sustainable architecture and working on several other publications, I have come to the conclusion, if we're going to make a dent in our environmental consumption, we need to look at simple solutions to make existing structures more energy efficient. We are in dire need of weaning ourselves from lifestyles that are depleting our natural resources at an accelerated rate. I propose we look at something as simple as landscaping to insulate our homes and commercial buildings. Planting trees, particularly deciduous trees, absorbs polluting particulates, provides shade which reduces the heat load in the summer, increases the level of oxygen on our planet, and beautifies our cities. City codes should require commercial centers to use trees in parking islands to help reduce the heat load produced by asphalt. This would also have the added benefit of attracting shoppers (especially in cities such as Tucson) with a place to park their car in the shade. I'm not sure if Rocky Britain is still at the University of Arizona dept. of Architecture, but he is a terrific source of information on sustainability. A great project in Tucson would be to see if the city would be willing to pass an ordinance that would require planting xeriscape trees, such as mesquite and acacia, on all parking lot islands and maybe go a step further.........a program to start lining residential streets with trees. Tucson is a great city to start a program like this. If I'm not mistaken, in the last fifty years the average temperature in the summer has jumped ten degrees.