The Green Revolution

June 2007 Special Sections

A revolution is occurring in the remodeling industry—a green revolution. With environmentally savvy changes happening at both the remodeler and homeowner levels, it seems everyone wants to get in on the action. Fortunately for homeowners, regardless of whether it’s a partial remodel or a whole-house makeover they want, this doesn’t necessarily mean shelling out more green. But it does mean more than just adding ecofriendly products to the house.

Systems, Not Products
Michael Anschel, owner of Otogawa-Anschel Design and Build in Minneapolis, stresses that green remodeling has little to do with individual products. “It’s not about the product—it’s about the system,” he says. “Installing bamboo products in your home does not make your home green. Replacing your toilet does not make your home green. Replacing your windows does not make your home green, [although] some products have green attributes.”

There are many factors involved in labeling a home—or product—green. Take bamboo products, he says. Although they are sustainable—a key attribute of being green—most are manufactured in production plants that are not necessarily energy efficient. It is also shipped across an ocean, using a tremendous amount of fuel. So unless a builder or homeowner can find a local manufacturer who uses environmentally friendly production processes, bamboo products would probably not make it into the green category.

Adam C. Tills, a former designer and project manager for House of Dreams, a design-build company in Shoreview, says when doing a green remodel, he doesn’t use any products that have to be shipped more than 500 miles. “That the product comes from a distance of 500 miles or less is more important than whether it is manufactured in a green manner,” Tills says. The amount of fuel that can be conserved by buying locally outweighs the benefits of green manufacturing. “Everyone wants to be green, and there are a lot of misconceptions. I challenge suppliers who come in and say a product is green.” For instance, he says, he’ll ask a supplier who claims to have a green product where the product was manufactured. If the supplier tells him it was made in California and then shipped to the Twin Cities, he’ll tell them they are mistaken about it being green. Products might add to making a home green, but they don’t make a home green in and of themselves, and the building process is as important if not more so.

“If you take any part of the building process in isolation, you not only cease to be green, but you have the potential to cause a lot of damage,” Anschel says. For example, a remodeler could make a house air tight by sealing air leaks and attic bypasses, which would help reduce the home’s energy use, but if the remodeler then installs a product, such as new carpet, that emits VOCs (volatile organic compounds) throughout the house, the home ceases to be green. “The indoor air quality is now awful, and the home’s occupants may be getting sick” from the product out gassing (release of gas from products that contain VOCs), Anschel states.