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Chalk Line ArticlesGreen Building is HOT! Disaster Aid and Financial Planning 24 New Members Captured 2008 Events and Programs Are Underway Don't Elect the Wrong Person Shavings Letter to the Editor |
Chalk LineGreen Building is HOT!
The same day I created my list I received the Chamber's monthly magazine and noted the theme of that issue was "The Greening of Business." As I looked inside there were eight pages that had articles about "green" topics. The very next day I received my copy of the Commercial Builder magazine, published by the National Association of Home Builders. On the cover it stated "Special Green Issue." Inside were six articles about "green" issues. At that point, I realized, what I needed to be talking to the Thurston County Chamber about was not the individual industry issues OMB is currently working, but THE industry issue - global warming and I needed to talk about OMB's Built Green program as well. As I stated in my column in the March Chalk Line, global warming is considered to be the number one issue to face the home building industry over the next five years. One of the additional challenges with the topic of global warming is separating fact from fiction. I told the Chamber's Board that OMB members want to make sure that any laws being enforced on the home building industry regarding global warming issues are based on factual scientific information, not on emotion or a fad mentality. And then I talked about OMB's Built Green program and how our industry has voluntarily put standards in place to build homes that incorporate green building practices that are friendly to the environment. I explained that a builder completes a check list that assigns points based on construction practices and products used in the home. Based on the number of points, a home then becomes certified Level One through Level Five. Homes that are Level Three through Level Five require third party verification. As you can see on the first graph, OMB's Built Green program has seen rapid growth since the program started in 2005. But to me the second graph tells an interesting story. What it shows me is that in 2007, the vast majority of OMB's builders were building Level Three homes. Given the newness of the program, I think that is significant, that builders are not starting at Level One and then progressing, but they are jumping into the Built Green building arena at Level Three. The second thing I noticed about the graph was the growth of Level Five. In 2005 there were zero Level 5 homes built and certified, in 2006 there were four, in 2007 there were five and in the first quarter of 2008 there are already three Level 5 homes. As OMB member Greg Stevens says, "Green Building is Hot." OMB's challenge will be to continue to provide products and services that the public wants that are environmentally friendly and at the same time not get "burnt" by the emotion of "THE" industry issue - global warming.
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During April I was invited to address the Thurston County Chamber's Board of Directors to talk about home building industry issues. Initially I created a detailed list of all the issues Olympia Master Builders (OMB) is working on in each city and county - design review in Lacey, park impact fees in Tumwater, cost recovery in Thurston County, etc.