The Yule Blog

by Craig D. Claus

I recently had the great pleasure of attending a presentation by John Wagner, who is an author and speaker in the Green industry.  The event was sponsored by a local building materials supplier, Brock’s, and Boston Cedar.   The target audience was builders and contractors wanting to know more about how to qualify a product as green, how to get on handle on the hype, and then market themselves as “green”.  John’s presentation was part of Boston Cedar’s Green Road Show series.

Wagner has a lot of knowledge about building materials and construction, and has a very down-to-earth opinion on what makes a product green.  For instance, his view of vinyl siding (which I share) as a “green” product - it has great longevity, can be made from recycled material and can be recycled, but mostly, it requires no scraping, painting, staining, etc. and doesn’t consume the human energy that wood siding does.  The total life cycle of the product needs to be considered.

He also was quite honest about how some products have been banned only to be replaced by worse products that seemed less toxic.  Either the process to produce the new product or the disposal of the product are problem.  Some materials have been banned because the name of a chemical contained in the product sounded toxic

John suggested that builders (specifically, those in residential new construction and remodeling) looking for a rating system consider the NAHB Green Building Program versus the LEED for Homes system.  The NAHB (National Assoc. of Home Builders) system is better suited to residential construction and is gaining widespread acceptance in the industry.  His suggestion was for those in attendance who were looking at the Certified Green Professional designation, which recognizes builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who incorporate green building principles into homes.  I guess I will be going to CGP training soon.