Tension in Residential Green Building

As the auto industry has recently demonstrated, even if an industry clearly possesses the capacity to improve its end product, and at a price that does not put that product immediately out of reach of 95% of its consumers, they’ll fight tooth and nail to oppose any legislation that makes them do it. For the auto industry, and probably most other industries, the reason why is simple: there are higher profit margins in doing things the way they’ve always done them. Despite the incredible demand for hybrid cars, they still cost a little more to produce and making more would require retooling more auto plants, further reducing margins.The same seems to be true of parts of the building industry; some builders are wholeheartedly onboard with green building, especially when it saves money on the front end.The Rolling Hills Estates City Council in California is taking up that question, after a similar measure was vetoed at the urging of construction interests at the state level. The strongest wording of the measure would require a number of eco-friendly improvements to every new building in Rolling Hills Estates, a move builders oppose over cost. However, it’s already been well-demonstrated that there are a number of cost-saving green features that can be added at or below the cost of current counterparts. It’s also quite feasible that such requirements could also prompt builders to tighten up their construction practices, such as using on-site recycling.It’s certainly true that a home that is packed with green innovation can end up costing more than a home built without it, but at a 25% cost increase that’s a far cry from the Rolling Hills Estates’ builders cherry-picked example of 400% increases. Even if you take in such a large increase for the cost of, say, organic paint, there are a number of other ways to save money on the front end and mitigate such premiums. And though there might be cost premiums, all of them tend to pay for themselves over the life of the house, especially simple things like rainwater reclamation.And even given that, like with slightly more expensive hybrid cars, green homes seem to be a more attractive buy overall. And the allure is undeniable. As the market for mortgage refinancing shows, a single, steady payment is going to be far more attractive than those that can fluctuate wildly over time; with rising energy and, especially in the Southwest, water prices, the predictability of a fixed rate mortgage payment beats the uncertainty of climbing gas and electric prices. This simple concept, in fact, will probably be what drives microgeneration once the prices do come down low enough that it’s not immediately priced out of most buyer’s budgets.

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