While the green movement has had a massive influence on your business over the past five years, many things will need to happen for green building to progress to the next level of sustainability. Here’s five things you can do to prosper in this new environment.

In 2003, a new worldview emerged from the ashes of the dot-com crash. The internet community became more collaborative, with the Web now serving as a platform for businesses and individual users to share ideas. Known as “Web 2.0,” this second wave of the Internet is largely driven by social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace) blogs, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, and the broad functionality of Google.
In Web 2.0, collaboration is the key to prosperity.
The evolution of the green movement in the building industry follows a similar path. Gaining mass acceptance just a few years ago, the green movement has become one of the most influential trends in the history of American building and design.
Consumers and government leaders are placing increased value in preserving the environment, leading to a stronger emphasis on sustainable lifestyles. This includes the design and construction of sustainable, efficient buildings that increase the use of environmentally friendly building materials and minimize the consumption of natural resources, energy and water in daily operations.

While the green movement has had a massive influence on commerce and the building industry over the past five years, many things will need to happen for green building to progress to the next level of sustainability.

Green Roots
Although the roots of the green movement extend back to the mid-1800s, it was as the 21st century emerged, many more average Americans began to realize the importance of the green movement’s goals. As Americans began witnessing more weather-related disasters, visible climate change, high gasoline and utility costs, 9/11, excessive dependence on foreign oil and a declining economy, longstanding environmental concerns became more apparent. These significant issues and many others have since inspired millions to “go green.”
Similar to the Internet’s land grab phase, the green movement has seen hundreds of companies jump on the bandwagon and scramble to identify themselves as green in the eyes of the consumer. It’s a race to promote the sustainable attributes of their products, as quickly as possible, to attract customers.
One result of the green explosion is that property owners are becoming increasingly educated on sustainability, prompting a demand for more sustainable, efficiently operating homes and buildings. And, with the guidance of green building standards, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) program and the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Home Building Guidelines, the movement is having a strong influence on the building industry. The building industry is now in a phase that we’ll refer to as “Green Building 1.0.”
Many builders have incorporated green into their vernacular, but are they ready for Green Building 2.0?

Getting from 1.0 to 2.0
Green Building 1.0 represents the crawling period. Increasing demands for sustainable building practices have forced the average builder to make substantial changes in order to stay competitive and keep up with the current fast pace of the green movement.
Often, these builders dive right in, with no formal green plan, and may focus on just achieving one key green goal, such as energy efficiency, water efficiency, or using recycled materials. Builders in the Green Building 1.0 phase also work to promote their own green achievements and demonstrate how they stack up against the competition, albeit from a very narrow vantage point.
Now, it’s time to walk. Green Building 2.0 is the point when you, as a sustainable builder, begin working and with other related industries for the greater good of the environment. You will need to take a more holistic approach and identify touchpoints throughout the life cycles of their operations to forge mutually beneficial partnerships.
A builder operating under a Green Building 2.0 mindset will initiate dialog with peers in the building industry and manufacturers to work toward higher green building standards and more sustainable building products. For example, recently, the Partnership in Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) partnered with a team of building product manufacturers, including CertainTeed, Georgia-Pacific and Fiberweb Typar, to build the first mold-safe model home. Since its completion, the 3,000 square-foot, two-story green show home has proven an excellent sustainable building educational tool for builders, architects, planners, manufacturers, and homeowners.
Or look at the recent partnership between green global retailer IKEA and Whirlpool Corporation is another good collaboration example. Whirlpool Corporation has developed the high-efficiency IKEA line of appliances, which are now sold at IKEA locations across the world.
Another goal through collaboration is to establish measurements of sustainability in order to help educate homebuyers about the value of green building. Builders all around can understand the importance of sustainability, but it won’t completely take hold until the majority of their customers understand. If more homeowners understand sustainability and request greener building components, there will be more sustainable homes and buildings across the United States.
So, what do you need to do to help take sustainability to the next level? Start with these five steps:
Be highly sustainable in your actions, as well as your words.
It’s easy to talk about the importance of sustainability, but it’s meaningless if you’re not employing the maximum amount of sustainable building techniques in all aspects of your projects. Build to national green building standards and aim for high levels of certification from the NAHB, USGBC, and the myriad other programs.
Make sure your daily operations are as sustainable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. A big part of this involves recycling construction waste. We simply cannot continue to throw away huge quantities of old building components, allowing them to take up more space in landfills. A sustainable builder recycles as much construction waste as possible. Most of today’s building product manufacturers have drop-off sites for construction waste recycling and use the recycled material to make new products of equal or nearly equal quality.
Don’t accept it at face value when building product manufacturers claim their products are green—make them prove it. Ask for documentation that shows their products are appropriate for sustainable building projects. It’s very much like reading nutrition labels while grocery shopping; just as you owe it to your body to know what goes into the food you consume, you are responsible for knowing if the building products you use are truly sustainable and safe for the environment.
Let building science principles govern your construction plans. Every structure you build is a network of systems (such as water distribution, electrical, mechanical, etc.) that must work in concert to produce a sustainable building. One of the best ways to do this is to know every component of the building envelope and how it can contribute to a more sustainable home or building.
Spread the word. Once you feel comfortable in your knowledge of green living and building, it’s important to get your words published, whether it’s in the form of newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, or blogs. Through this, you can educate others and share your sustainable solutions with industry peers.

A Greener Future
Green Building 2.0 means a better world, with longer-lasting and more efficient homes, less strain on our environment and its natural resources and less waste.
Reaching the state of Green Building 2.0 will not be difficult, as long as enough builders continue to educate themselves and work together to promote sustainability. You’ve learned how to crawl. Now, start walking. Next stop: Green Building 3.0. GB