Oxymoronic Scams: "Green Building" (SF Gate)

"Green building" is the feel-good trend of the moment. Cities stipulate 
it, builders market it and home buyers supposedly demand it. Who could 
be against it? It's the panacea that will combat global warming, prevent 
sprawl, revitalize our downtowns, contribute to the region's economic 
growth and keep California on the leading edge. So everyone is embracing 
green building as if they were French kissing George Clooney. It always 
sounds easy -- you just get some low-VOC paint, some linoleum, some 
wheatboard cabinets, make your garden gate out of cast-off Volvo parts, 
and presto! -- greenness is achieved without any serious thinking about 
the real effects of your choices on the planet. The reality is far more 
complicated. The "easy" choices are a cop-out -- not that you shouldn't 
do them -- but they won't balance out that SUV you're driving.

'Green building' is an oxymoron

Building or remodeling uses up resources, even if those resources are 
recycled or salvaged. The greenest thing you can do is continue the life 
of an existing building, whose resources have already been extracted. 
Retrofitting an existing building for better energy efficiency, lower 
water use and so forth is greener than building new.

There is an all-too-common practice of demolishing a small existing 
building in order to throw up (I use the term deliberately) a larger 
"green" building, as though the small building had volunteered to be the 
virgin (timber) sacrifice on the altar of "smart growth."


cont'd....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/13/CMGA7PCMDH1.DTL