Guest post by Barbara O’Brien

Green or “sustainable” building is the practice of keeping the protection of the environment above all other building considerations. This ideal of environmental concern in building new structures and improving older ones is more pervasive now, and often guides companies and homeowners alike to make eco-friendly construction decisions.

For new structures, the point of being sustainable is not to only use sustainable products, such as bamboo, and recycled and re-purposed building materials. From lights to flooring and from the bones of the new building down to the plumbing and electrical, the top construction leaders are embracing this sustainable movement.

Isn’t Green Building Expensive?

This is one of the most widely held misperceptions in the construction industry. Building green isn’t expensive. Not only in the short-term financial output, say for materials, but for the long-term benefit by saving overall utilities costs.

Habitat for Humanity International (HHI) is one of the first and leading organizations that embraced the green building movement before it became a regular and expected practice. Since the organization provides low-cost homes for those disenfranchised, it recognized the cost-benefit of building green and using sustainable products.

From radiant heat flooring to using recycled glass counter tops, Habitat for Humanity International embraced the green movement because of the cost effectiveness for not only their own building costs, but to provide a house that kept the homeowners’ costs to a minimum.

Building green, sustainable homes and buildings is more cost effective now than any other form of building.

Further, the United States government, specifically the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “rewards” sustainable building by offering tax incentives and grants.

Not only does the EPA recognize the importance and long term impact of sustainable building, so does the United States Green Building Council (USBGC). From city redevelopment, new builds and residential home improvements, the USBGC also provides financial incentive to build sustainable.

Numerous government agencies, private organizations and foundations supplement the cost of building green. Nationwide – even worldwide – these agencies and organizations understand the imperative to provide a clean environment for future generations.

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By D.E. Putnam

“If in any country a forest was destroyed I do not believe nearly so many species of animals would perish as would here from the destruction of the kelp.”
–Charles Darwin 1834

One can only imagine the abundance of creatures Darwin saw at the Galapagos Islands to suggest kelp beds were home to far more animals than the forest of any country in the world. The naturalist captures in one sentence the essential role kelp plays in the marine environment. In California, the undersea forests formed by giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) provide critical habitat and food for over 800 species of organisms. They hold one of the greatest concentrations of biodiversity in all the world’s oceans. The remarkable number of creatures whose existence depends on the giant brown algae makes it an irreplaceable feature of the marine ecosystem.

Kelp forests support one quarter of native marine life in California waters. If the kelp is lost so too are those species. Raising the specter of such a loss is the drastic decline of giant kelp along the Golden State’s shores. Over the last century eighty percent of it has vanished. The potential consequences of this wide spread loss of essential habitat are devastating and have spurred restoration efforts to reestablish the kelp.

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