Dr Kath williams - greenbuildingcongress.com · on Green Homes: Value proposition ... Chennai October 26, 2013 IGBC Congress • Dr. Kath Williams President, Kath Williams + Associates

International Perspectives

on Green Homes:

Value proposition & Benefits

IGBC 11th Annual Congress

Chennai

October 26, 2013

IGBC Congress

• Dr. Kath Williams

President, Kath Williams + Associates

Bozeman, Montana USA

Work as Green Building/LEED consultant in 11 countries since 1993

www.kathwilliams.com

NEIGHBOR!

NEIGHBORHOOD

ANOTHER NEIGHBOR

ONE OF HIS MANY WIVES AND BABIES

GREEN HOMES FOR ALL

• MY FAMILY

• MY NEIGHBORS

• MY COMMUNITY

• MY NATION

• MY WORLD

Value Proposition

• Promise of value

• Belief that expectations will be delivered

Expectations = Motivators

• Planet (Environmental)

• People (Social)

• Profit for residential designer and builder

PROGRESS

for family

Values developed?

• Review of benefits

• Analysis of needs

• Understanding of wants

Value = Benefits - Costs

Benefits of Green Homes

• Environmental

Benefits of Green Homes

• People

Benefits of Green Homes cont.

• Economics

– Longer stay in current home

– Sell faster (first time and resale)

– Higher profit/Return on Investment

Challenges

• Capability

• Impact

• Proof

• Cost

Challenge of cost

– Builder—increase cost due to inexperience, cost

of materials being higher, perceived as higher

– Lead times shorter now than 10 years ago

– Think differently!

For buyer

– Understanding First cost versus total cost of

ownership

– Demanding Guaranteed Retained value

• Simple, elegant, natural

• Keeping up with advances in technology

• WHEN to buy? If I wait…

Global Focus on Products

• Product Declarations

– Transparency

• Rely on information from manufacturer

– Cynics—don’t believe no matter what

– Blind—don’t want to know so accept any written declaration

Keeping Intent in mind…

• LEED for Homes—India

• Not points that matter. Simply a tool

– Education

– Measurement

– Recognition

Residential Building Owners

• Want to feel comfortable with products

• Want to be protected in selection of products

– Fire safety

– Structural integrity

– More recently, HEALTH and SAFETY in Homes

New? Environmental Impact of

Products

• Standardized Environmental Product

Declarations (EPDs)

• Tool to explain environmental issues

• Explains manufacturing process

• Ingredients in products

Results? Impacts on environment and human

health revealed.

Progress …since 1987 UN Brundtland

Commission?

• Needs have been broadly and variously

defined

• Intent remains same—meet needs of all

generations, all social classes, all geographic

locations to sustain themselves…and THRIVE!

Move forward…

• From basic LEED toward life-cycle assessment

(LCA) as basis for measurement of total

sustainability

• Get beyond “green wash” that is common

since there is now a

major global market

financial gain in sustainability

For homes…

• Consensus in rating systems is changing to a

focus on “attributes” of materials and

products rather than assessment of product

as whole (green product defined).

Emergence of EPDs

• Progress but Not complete answer

• Deficient in answering questions of human

health impacts

LCA—very challenging but essential

• Extraction Phase Impacts

• Manufacturing Phase Impacts

• Construction Phase Impacts

• End of Life Phase

– Demolition versus Deconstruction

– Is there ever an “end to life?”

– Cradle to grave versus Cradle to Cradle

– Toxicity in landfills?

Standards

• Product Category Rules (PCR)

– Conduct and report results of LCA in product

category (home products)

– Consensus-based, collaboratively developed,

expert review panels

– Very limited, particularly in residential products,

but major call from home buyers world-wide.

Toxicity to Humans

• Ability of a product to have adverse effect on

human health (includes component materials

or byproducts to be poisonous to humans)

• Famous examples—asbestos, lead, urea-

formaldehyde

Purpose of IEQ in LEED-Homes

• Limit use of Volatile Organic Compounds

(VOCs)

• Construction exposure versus Life of Product

exposure as in homes

– Inhale

– Ingest

– Dermal exposure (allergies)

– Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs)

Complex Issues

• Ecotoxicity/human toxicity

• Not easy to categorize

• Expensive to quantify

• Easy to deny

• Simple to ignore

Home builders

• Responsible for home beyond structural

Recognized and rewarded by LEED-Homes

Higher Standard? IAGBC Green Homes

Designers

• Responsible for product selection

• GREEN HOMES DESIGNED BY NATURE—

Central America Ecological Architecture

– Use of Janine Benyus’ work in BIOMIMICRY

– On web and YouTube Michael Cranford, architect

– Nautilus Project

Government

• Responsible to regulate, set standards, and

enforce codes

• Responsible in many countries for funding

research

NGOs

• Responsible for setting standards beyond

code

• Power in volunteers who lead the way to

quality

• Recognizing leaders in design/construction

industry

• Support product manufacturers who are

transparent and forward-thinkers

Green Homes bring showcase our

values

• Now and forever…

• Benefits?

Environmental

Social

Economic

Message? Green people

• Essential for ALL to have access to green homes

• Smart choices as consumers

• Leading the way for future generations to live in a safe, happy, healthy environment, starting at home!