By Mark J. Donovan
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When contemplating a green building project, it is important to fully
understand the definition of green building. Green building means more than just
using energy efficient operating products and materials. Green building requires
the use of products and services that meet several criteria for energy savings
and natural resource conservation. The evaluation of the entire lifecycle of a
product is required to determine if it is truly a green building product. This
includes from the manufacturing of the product, to the shipment of the product,
its use, and finally, its disposal.
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| For a product to be fully classified as a green building product the product
should be manufactured from recycled materials. For example, insulation that is
manufactured from recyclable newspapers would meet the first criteria in the
definition of being a green building product. Also, products that are
manufactured from renewable resources would also meet the first criteria in the
definition of green building material. |
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The next phase in the lifecycle of a product that needs to be evaluated to
determine if a product truly qualifies as a green building product is how it is
shipped, and the distance between the manufacturing facility and the build site.
For example, a product that is manufactured in China that needs to be shipped to
a build site in New England, would probably not meet this criteria in the
definition of a green building product. |
The third phase that has to be
considered in determining if a product truly qualifies as a green building
product is the operational energy savings it provides. For a product to qualify
as energy efficient it needs to be compared with its peers. For example, a
dishwasher that uses a third less energy and water compared to the typical
dishwasher may qualify as a green product.
Finally, the disposal or recycling of
the product needs to be considered in the determination of whether or not a
product qualifies as green. A product, for example, that is manufactured with a
majority of its components and materials that can be recycled would meet this
criterion for green building.
So when contemplating building a
green home, make sure you consider the entire lifecycle of each home building
product. Only the products that meet all four phases of the product lifecycle
truly qualify as green building products.
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