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Jump to: navigation, search This article is about green building. For the building on the MIT campus, see Green Building (MIT).

US EPA ansas !ity Science " #echnology !enter$ #his facility features the follo%ing green attri&utes: '(EE) *$+ ,old certified Green Building, also kno%n as green construction or sustainable building, is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsi&le and resource-efficient throughout a &uilding.s life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction$ #his practice e/pands and complements the classical &uilding design concerns of economy, utility, dura&ility, and comfort$012 Although ne% technologies are constantly &eing developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common o&3ective is that green &uildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the &uilt environment on human health and the natural environment &y:

Efficiently using energy, %ater, and other resources Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity 4educing %aste, pollution and environmental degradation0*2

A similar concept is natural &uilding, %hich is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are availa&le locally$052 6ther related topics include sustaina&le design, green architecture, and energy efficient &uildings$

Reducing environmental impact

,reen &uilding practices aim to reduce the environmental impact of &uildings$ 7uildings account for a large amount of land use, energy and %ater consumption, and air and atmosphere alteration$ 8n the United States, more than *,+++,+++ acres 9:,1++ km*; of open space, %ildlife SUPS ha&itat, and %etlands are developed each year$0<2 As of *++=, &uildings used <+ percent of the total energy consumed in &oth the US and European Union$0>20=2 8n the US, >< percent of that percentage %as consumed &y

residential &uildings and <= percent &y commercial &uildings$0?2 8n *++*, &uildings used appro/imately =: percent of the total electricity consumed in the United States %ith >1 percent for residential use and <@ percent for commercial use$ 5: percent of the total amount of car&on dio/ide in the United States can &e attri&uted to &uildings, *1 percent from homes and 1?$> percent from commercial uses$ 7uildings account for 1*$* percent of the total amount of %ater consumed per day in the United States$0citation needed2 !onsidering these statistics, reducing the amount of natural resources &uildings consume and the amount of pollution given off is seen as crucial for future sustaina&ility, according to EPA$0:2 #he environmental impact of &uildings is often underestimated, %hile the perceived costs of green &uildings are overestimated$ A recent survey &y the World 7usiness !ouncil for Sustaina&le )evelopment finds that green costs are overestimated &y 5++ percent, as key players in real estate and construction estimate the additional cost at 1? percent a&ove conventional construction, more than triple the true average cost difference of a&out > percent$0@2

[edit] Goals of Green Building

#he concept of sustaina&le development can &e traced to the energy 9especially fossil oil; crisis and the environment pollution concern in the 1@?+s$01+2 #he green &uilding movement in the U$S$ originated from the need and desire for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly construction practices$ #here are a num&er of motives to &uilding green, including environmental, economic, and social &enefits$ Ao%ever, modern sustaina&ility initiatives call for an integrated and synergistic design to &oth ne% construction and in the retrofitting of an e/isting structure$ Also kno%n as sustaina&le design, this approach integrates the &uilding life-cycle %ith each green practice employed %ith a design-purpose to create a synergy amongst the practices used$ ,reen &uilding &rings together a vast array of practices and techniBues to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of &uildings on the environment and human health$ 8t often emphasiCes taking advantage of rene%a&le resources, e$g$, using sunlight through passive solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniBues and using plants and trees through green roofs, rain gardens, and for reduction of rain%ater run-off$ Dany other techniBues, such as using packed gravel or permea&le concrete instead of conventional concrete or asphalt to enhance replenishment of ground %ater, are used as %ell$ While the practices, or technologies, employed in green &uilding are constantly evolving and may differ from region to region, there are fundamental principles that persist from %hich the method is derived: Siting and Structure )esign Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Daterials Efficiency, 8ndoor Environmental Euality Enhancement, 6perations and Daintenance 6ptimiCation, and Waste and #o/ics 4eduction$011201*2 #he essence of green &uilding is an optimiCation of one or more of these principles$ Also, %ith the proper synergistic design, individual green &uilding technologies may %ork together to produce a greater cumulative effect$

6n the aesthetic side of green architecture or sustaina&le design is the philosophy of designing a &uilding that is in harmony %ith the natural features and resources surrounding the site$ #here are several key steps in designing sustaina&le &uildings: specify .green. &uilding materials from local sources, reduce loads, optimiCe systems, and generate on-site rene%a&le energy$

[edit] Siting and Structure Design Efficiency

See also: Sustaina&le design #he foundation of any construction pro3ect is rooted in the concept and design stages$ #he concept stage, in fact, is one of the ma3or steps in a pro3ect life cycle, as it has the largest impact on cost and performance$0152 8n designing environmentally optimal &uildings, the o&3ective function aims at minimiCing the total environmental impact associated %ith all life-cycle stages of the &uilding pro3ect$ Ao%ever, &uilding as a process is not as streamlined as an industrial process, and varies from one &uilding to the other, never repeating itself identically$ 8n addition, &uildings are much more comple/ products, composed of a multitude of materials and components each constituting various design varia&les to &e decided at the design stage$ A variation of every design varia&le may affect the environment during all the &uilding.s relevant life-cycle stages$01<2 !reating sustaina&le &uildings starts %ith proper site selection$ #he location of a &uilding affects a %ide range of environmental factors - such as security, accessi&ility, and energy consumption, as %ell as the energy consumed &y transportation needs of occupants for commuting, the impact on local ecosystems, and the useFreuse of e/isting structures and infrastructures$ 8f possi&le, locating &uildings in areas of e/isting development %here infrastructure already e/ists and conserving resources &y renovating e/isting &uildings %ill help minimiCe a pro3ect.s environmental footprint$ Da/imiCing the green impact of site design and &uilding infrastructure may &e accomplished &y considering energy implications during site selection and the design of &uilding orientation$ 8mproved grading and natural landscaping practices can help control erosion as %ell as reduce heat islands$ 8ncorporating transportation solutions along %ith site plans that ackno%ledge the need for &icycle parking, carpool staging, and pro/imity to mass transit can help encourage alternatives to traditional commuting and reduce &oth energy consumption and %aste emissions$01>2

[edit] Energy Efficiency

Dain articles: (o%-energy house and Gero-energy &uilding ,reen &uildings often include measures to reduce energy use$ #o increase the efficiency of the &uilding envelope, 9the &arrier &et%een conditioned and unconditioned space;, they may use high-efficiency %indo%s and insulation in %alls, ceilings, and floors$ Another strategy, passive solar &uilding design, is often implemented in lo%-energy homes$ )esigners orient %indo%s and %alls and place a%nings, porches, and trees01=2 to shade

%indo%s and roofs during the summer %hile ma/imiCing solar gain in the %inter$ 8n addition, effective %indo% placement 9daylighting; can provide more natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting during the day$ Solar %ater heating further reduces energy loads$ 6nsite generation of rene%a&le energy through solar po%er, %ind po%er, hydro po%er, or &iomass can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the &uilding$ Po%er generation is generally the most e/pensive feature to add to a &uilding$

[edit] Water Efficiency

See also: Water !onservation 4educing %ater consumption and protecting %ater Buality are key o&3ectives in sustaina&le &uilding$ 6ne critical issue of %ater consumption is that in many areas of the country, the demands on the supplying aBuifer e/ceed its a&ility to replenish itself$ #o the ma/imum e/tent feasi&le, facilities should increase their dependence on %ater that is collected, used, purified, and reused on-site$ #he protection and conservation of %ater throughout the life of a &uilding may &e accomplished &y designing for dual plum&ing that recycles %ater in toilet flushing$ Waste-%ater may &e minimiCed &y utiliCing %ater conserving fi/tures such as ultra-lo% flush toilets and lo%-flo% sho%er heads$ Point of use %ater treatment and heating improves &oth %ater Buality and energy efficiency %hile reducing the amount of %ater in circulation$ #he use of non-se%age and grey%ater for on-site use such as site-irrigation %ill minimiCe demands on the local aBuifer$01?2

[edit] Materials Efficiency

See also: Sustaina&le architecture 7uilding materials typically considered to &e .green. include rapidly rene%a&le plant materials like &am&oo 9&ecause &am&oo gro%s Buickly; and stra%, lum&er from forests certified to &e sustaina&ly managed, ecology &locks, dimension stone, recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-to/ic, reusa&le, rene%a&le, andFor recycla&le 9e$g$ #rass, (inoleum, sheep %ool, panels made from paper flakes, compressed earth &lock, ado&e, &aked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, fla/ linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, e/panded clay grains, coconut, %ood fi&re plates, calcium sand stone, concrete 9high and ultra high performance, roman self-healing concrete01:2; , etc$01@20*+2; #he EPA 9Environmental Protection Agency; also suggests using recycled industrial goods, such as coal com&ustion products, foundry sand, and demolition de&ris in construction pro3ects 0*12 Polyurethane heavily reduces car&on emissions as %ell$ Polyurethane &locks are &eing used instead of !D#s &y companies like American 8nsulock$ Polyurethane &locks provide more speed, less cost, and they are environmentally friendly$ 0**2 7uilding materials should &e e/tracted and manufactured locally to the &uilding site to minimiCe the energy em&edded in their transportation$ Where possi&le, &uilding elements should &e manufactured off-site and delivered to site, to ma/imise &enefits of off-site manufacture including minimising %aste, ma/imising

recycling 9&ecause manufacture is in one location;, high Buality elements, &etter 6AS management, less noise and dust$

[edit] Indoor Environmental

See also: 8ndoor Air Euality

uality En!ancement

#he 8ndoor Environmental Euality 98EE; category in (EE) standards, one of the five environmental categories, %as created to provide comfort, %ell-&eing, and productivity of occupants$ #he (EE) 8EE category addresses design and construction guidelines especially: indoor air Buality 98AE;, thermal Buality, and lighting Buality$0*52 8ndoor Air Euality seeks to reduce volatile organic compounds, or H6!.s, such as micro&ial contaminants$ 7uildings rely on a properly designed AHA! system to provide adeBuate ventilation and air filtration as %ell as isolate operations 9kitchens, dry cleaners, etc$; from other occupancies$ )uring the design and construction process choosing construction materials and interior finish products %ith Cero or lo% emissions %ill improve 8AE$ Dany &uilding materials and cleaningFmaintenance products emit to/ic gases, such as H6!.s and formaldehyde$ #hese gases can have a detrimental impact on occupants. health and productivity as %ell$ Avoiding these products %ill increase a &uilding.s 8EE$ Personal temperature and airflo% control over the AHA! system coupled %ith a properly designed &uilding envelope %ill also aid in increasing a &uilding.s thermal Buality$ !reating a high performance luminous environment through the careful integration of natural and artificial light sources %ill improve on the lighting Buality of a structure$0*<20*>2

[edit] "perations and Maintenance "ptimi#ation

Io matter ho% sustaina&le a &uilding may have &een in its design and construction, it can only remain so if it is operated responsi&ly and maintained properly$ Ensuring operations and maintenance96"D; personnel are part of the pro3ect.s planning and development process %ill help retain the green criteria designed at the onset of the pro3ect$0*=2 Every aspect of green &uilding is integrated into the 6"D phase of a &uilding.s life$ #he addition of ne% green technologies also falls on the 6"D staff$ Although the goal of %aste reduction may &e applied during the design, construction and demolition phases of a &uilding.s life-cycle, it is in the 6"D phase that green practices such as recycling and air Buality enhancement take place$

[edit] Waste Reduction

,reen architecture also seeks to reduce %aste of energy, %ater and materials used during construction$ For e/ample, in !alifornia nearly =+J of the state.s %aste comes from commercial &uildings0*?2 )uring the construction phase, one goal should &e to reduce the amount of material going to landfills$ Well-designed &uildings also help reduce the

amount of %aste generated &y the occupants as %ell, &y providing on-site solutions such as compost &ins to reduce matter going to landfills$ #o reduce the impact on %ells or %ater treatment plants, several options e/ist$ K,rey%aterK, %aste%ater from sources such as dish%ashing or %ashing machines, can &e used for su&surface irrigation, or if treated, for non-pota&le purposes, e$g$, to flush toilets and %ash cars$ 4ain%ater collectors are used for similar purposes$ !entraliCed %aste%ater treatment systems can &e costly and use a lot of energy$ An alternative to this process is converting %aste and %aste%ater into fertiliCer, %hich avoids these costs and sho%s other &enefits$ 7y collecting human %aste at the source and running it to a semi-centraliCed &iogas plant %ith other &iological %aste, liBuid fertiliCer can &e produced$ #his concept %as demonstrated &y a settlement in (u&eck ,ermany in the late 1@@+s$ Practices like these provide soil %ith organic nutrients and create car&on sinks that remove car&on dio/ide from the atmosphere, offsetting greenhouse gas emission$ Producing artificial fertiliCer is also more costly in energy than this process$0*:2

[edit] $ost
#he most criticiCed issue a&out constructing environmentally friendly &uildings is the price$ Photo-voltaics, ne% appliances, and modern technologies tend to cost more money$ Dost green &uildings cost a premium of L*J, &ut yield 1+ times as much over the entire life of the &uilding$ 0*@2 #he stigma is &et%een the kno%ledge of up-front cost vs$ lifecycle cost$ #he savings in money come from more efficient use of utilities %hich result in decreased energy &ills$ Also, higher %orker or student productivity can &e factored into savings and cost deductions$ Studies have sho%n over a *+ year life period, some green &uildings have yielded M>5 to M?1 per sBuare foot &ack on investment$ 05+2 8t is pro3ected that different sectors could save M15+ 7illion on energy &ills 0512

[edit] Regulation and operation

Dany countries have developed their o%n standards for green &uilding or energy efficiency for &uildings$ A&ove some e/amples of &uilding environmental assessment tools currently in use:

Australia: Ia&ers0>2 F ,reen Star0=2 7raCil: AEUA 0?2

Structural insulated panels are installed on t!e roof of a !ome in Seattle for better energy efficiency% & Suns!ine $onstruction

Built Green Features

#he follo%ing is a list of a fe% of the KgreenK features and &uilding practices promoted in the 7uilt ,reen program:

Energy Efficiency 8ndoor Air Euality !onserving Iatural 4esources Water Euality

Energy Efficiency
'dvanced (raming)E*tra Insulation
Advanced framing is a techniBue used &y &uilders help reduce construction costs and increase energy savings$ 6n average, advanced framing uses 5+J less lum&er, takes less time to construct, and costs less to &uild &ecause the reduced use of lum&er more than offsets the additional cost of e/tra insulation$ !onstruction cost savings is estimated at M+$*@ per sBuare foot of %all area$ #otal savings for this measure alone are * to <J of total energy use$

+ig! Efficiency Water +eater

(ocating the hot %ater heater near the point of highest use %ill minimiCe pipeline energy loss$ #ypically, the point of highest demand is the sho%er$ Another strategy designed to increase efficiency is to insulate hot and cold %ater pipes %ithin 5 feet of the hot %ater heater$ #his measure reduces stand&y heat loss from the %ater tank$ #he tank continuously heats the piping and the %ater in it even %hen no %ater is &eing used$ #he pipes act as Kcooling rods$K 8nsulating them reduces the rate of heat loss$ 8n addition, choosing a high efficiency %ater heater can save energy and %ater$

Efficient +ouse!old 'ppliances

7uilt ,reen homes feature appliances that are as energy efficient as possi&le$ #he reduced costs associated %ith operating energy efficient appliances offset any higher initial costs of purchasing the appliances$ 7uilders are encouraged to use appliances that have KEnergy ,uideK or Energy StarN la&els to insure that they meet energy efficient criteria$

'ir Sealing
Advanced caulking is part of the airtight dry%all approach 9A)A; for framed structures, %hich is an advanced sealing package that goes &eyond &asic practice$ Specifically, caulk or gasket dry%all is installed on e/terior %alls at the top and &ottom plates, %indo%s and doorframes$ !aulk or gasket dry%all is used on interior %alls at intersections %ith e/terior ceilings$ !aulk or gasket dry%all is used at electrical, plum&ing or mechanical penetrations in the dry%all$
&ack to top

Indoor 'ir
$arpet

uality

Using lo%-pile or less allergen-attracting carpet and pad can greatly improve indoor air Buality$ 8nstalling carpeting &y tacking rather than using glue also reduces air pollutants$ #here are also natural fi&er carpets availa&le such as 3ute, sisal and

)aylight and careful space planning are used effectively in small Built Green cottages to give rooms a more e*pansive feeling% & ,!e $ottage $ompany

Photo News: India's largest stand-alone Green Building with helipad

MUMBAI, SEP : India's largest stand-alone Green Building with helipad that re!ei"ed the #eadership in Energ$ and En"iron%ental &esign '#EE&( gold !erti)i!ation )ro% the United States Green Building *oun!il 'USGB*( and "eri)ied +$ the Indian Green Building *oun!il 'IGB*(, in Mu%+ai on Frida$ 'UNI Photo( Green Building Pi!tures , Photos
This computer generated architectural image provided by the U.S. General Services Administration shows a series of 250 foot tall trellises designed to shade the west side of the !" story #dith Green $endell

the leaves provide cooling shade% in the winter& the bare limbs and stems admit comforting light. 'A( ( ) less

*ome +##,

An -ntroduction to +##,
+earn about the internationally recogni.ed certification system +##,& what it measures& what it delivers& and how to get started.

+##, /ating S ystems

The +eadership in #nergy and #nvironmental ,esign '+##,0 Green 1uilding /ating System2 is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmar3 for the design& construction and operation of high performance green buildings. +##, provides building owners and operators with the tools they need to have an immediate and measureable impact on their buildings4 performance.

(ro5ect 6ertification
+##, certification provides independent& third party verification that a building pro5ect is environmentally responsible& profitable and a healthy place to live and wor3.

(rofessional Accreditation
+##, Accredited (rofessionals are professionals who have demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and familiarity with +##, re7uirements& resources and processes.

-EED%net
Welcome to -EED%net
$e8ve all seen the signs indicating a new construction pro5ect is underway. -n this day and age more and more are becoming environmentally conscientious. $hat does that mean for those who are in the 6onstruction field9 -t means they need to be on the cutting edge of green technology. $hat is +##,9 +eadership in #nergy and #nvironmental ,esign '+##,0 is basically a third party certification program. -t is a nationally accepted organi.ation for design& operation and construction of high performance green buildings. This ensures the buildings are environmentally compatible& provide a healthy wor3 environment and are profitable. +##, certified buildings are commanding higher rental rates and great occupancy than the non green buildings. This trend cannot help but impact the -nvestment community. The supply while gradually increasing is not 3eeping up with the demand for green buildings. +##, :ew 6onstruction buildings are awarded points for sustainability for things li3e energy efficient lighting& low flow plumbing fi;tures and collection of water to name a few. /ecycled construction materials and energy efficient appliances also impact the point rating system. -n the political climate of today8s world& as the earth8s natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate the construction industry is being compelled to loo3 at alternatives to traditional construction materials and styles. <ore and more legislation is being passed that impacts not only .oning but environmental impact for new construction. +##, :ew 6onstruction certification and #nergy Star ratings seem to be the future of construction pro5ects. -t8s important to not only build beautiful buildings but buildings that are

energy efficient& healthy for their occupants to e;ist within and that they not harm the environment. Those of us who populate those buildings can feel good about the part we are doing to help the environment and preserve what is left of the environment after years and years of ta3ing natural resources for granted. Green technology as it continues to catch on will generate additional 5obs and challenge conventional wisdoms. +oo3 what happened in the auto industry with the electric cars. -t didn8t really catch on despite the fact that many who had the opportunity to test drive them wanted to 3eep them. -nstead they were basically scrapped because of big business. :ow we have hybrids and more and more companies are loo3ing for ways to create cars that are more environmentally friendly. -nterest in green technology will stimulate 5ob mar3et growth& and open up new business venues as it continues to catch on. =ust li3e any other mar3et& competition is healthy and a monopoly is not. -ncreasing public awareness is crucial to the continued e;pansion of +##, :ew 6onstruction certification and the advancement of green technology in construction pro5ects. So in summary& what is the impact of +##, :ew 6onstruction9 +##, :ew 6onstruction buildings have higher occupancy than non +##, certified. +##, :ew 6onstruction buildings rent for a higher dollar amount per s7uare feet than non +##, certified buildings. <ar3et demand for +##, :ew 6onstruction buildings is higher than for non +##, certified buildings.

Building Materials in a Green Economy

Community-based Strategies for Dematerialization
Brian Milani. /001

Paper delivered to the &iennial conference of the !anadian Society for Ecological Economics 9!AISEE;, Dc,ill University, Dontreal, August *>, *++1$ Intro2 Materials and Building Service and t!e Ecological Economy Elements of Material Solutions in Building W!at is a Green Material3 Deconstructing t!e Waste Economy 'lternative Materials Industrial Ecosystems Rules. Regulation and $oordination ,!e Significance of $onsumption 4rosumption in a Green Economy Green $onsumerism. Information and Mar5ets In Summary References 6 Resources

aterials are the stuff of economic life in our industrial %orld$ #hey

include the resource inputs and the product outputs of industrial production$ Ao% %e handle them is a ma3or determinant of real economic efficiency, and also has a ma3or impact on our health and the health of the natural environment$ Although the primary focus of popular environmental a%areness has &een on energy, it is our relationship to materials that %ill pro&a&ly have the most significance for green economic transformation and the esta&lishment of sustaina&le societies$ 6ver the past decade or so, green thinking has increasingly recogniCed that minimal levels of sustaina&ility depend on radical increases of resource-efficiencyOin the industrialiCed countries, &y a factor of ten$ Such efficiency gains seem almost impossi&le in the current system$ 7ut there are also fears that, even if ma3or efficiency gains could &e made, they might easily &e offset &y continuing gro%th of the economy as a %hole 9,ardner " Sampat, 1@@:P A$ Aayden, 1@@@;$ #he technological and organiCational potential to successfully make these

changes, ho%ever, does e/ist$ !utting-edge thinking on green economics has associated industrialism %ith material accumulation, and postindustrialism %ith %hat has &een called dematerialization of the economy$ #he argument is that a gro%ing role for kno%ledge, information and culture should make it possi&le to displace materials and energy %ith human intelligence and ingenuity$ #his %ould allo% us to satisfy more &asic human needs %ith far fe%er resources$ 8t %ould ostensi&ly also allo% us to fit human economic activities %ithin natural processes %ithout disrupting them$ 7ut all this %ould entail fundamental changes in the form, content and driving forces of the economyOthe su&3ect of my recent &ook, Designing the Green Economy. #he &uilt-environment is also a strategic realm of social, economic and environmental change$ Harious %riters have stated that spatial redesign of the landscape and &uilt-environment may &e the single most effective means of achieving ne% levels of efficiency and sustaina&ility 9(yle, 1@@<P Dollison, 1@:5P Ale/ander, 1@??P Han der 4yn " !o%an, 1@@=;$ 7uilding materials are also Buite important$ 6ne reason is &ecause of the %eight and volume they represent$ #hey have &een estimated to constitute up to <+ percent of the entire economyQs material throughput$ 8t follo%s that changes in &uilding materials use can leverage ma3or changes in manufacturing, e/traction and disposal$ 7uilding materials are also the stuff of our personal environments$ #hey are all around us, and literally part of the air %e &reathe$ #hey can damage the &iosphere: H6!s from paints alone are responsi&le for perhaps @ percent of the damage to the oCone layer$ #hey can also damage us: the US Environmental Protection Agency 9EPA;, for e/ample, estimates that indoor pollutionO caused &y materials like paints, plastics and particle&oardsOis responsi&le for more than 11,+++ deaths each year from cancer, kidney failure, and respiratory collapse 9(igon, *++1;$ #he fact that &uildings are all around us means not only that they immediately impact us, &ut that %e can potentially affect them$ #he &uilding industry is a decentraliCed one that e/ists in virtually every community$ Iot surprisingly, the &uilt-environment is a ma3or venue for ecological and community development alternatives, %ith materials &eing an increasing focus of concern over the past decade$ #he purpose of this essay is to marry these concerns a&out materials and &uilding, and consider strategies for dematerialiCation in the &uilding industry$ 8n particular 8 %ant to look at community-&ased initiatives, and consumption as a starting point for transformation$ Harious %riters and catalysts like the U Qs

Dartin !harter 9*++1; have argued that it is more effective to %ork on the level of production, %here corporate decisions can more directly affect supply chains, product designs and so on$ 6thers put the focus on regulation, insisting that the incentives and disincentives structured into the economy are crucial$ 8 %ill argue that a strategic focus on end-use, consumption and community may &e an ultimately more po%erful influence on &oth corporate action and state economic development policy$ 4eal dematerialiCation, ho%ever, reBuires action on every level of production, consumption and regulation, and there are pitfalls and limitations at every levelOespecially consumption$ 7efore looking at these, 8 %ill &riefly survey some of the key realms of &uilding materials transformation, &ased on an understanding of %hat an ecological economy can and should &eOthe perspective of an Recological service economyS$ Aopefully this %ill provide some conte/t for discussing the role of consumption in catalyCing change, and especially through the use of information in community-&ased initiatives$

Service and t!e Ecological Economy

8n Designing the Green Economy. 8 highlighted ten key principles of green economic development, &ut for the purposes of this essay, %e can reduce these to t%o primary aspects of the ecological economy$ A green economy is one in %hich 718 the primary focus %ould &e selling services rather than material products, and 7/8 economic activities %ould &e designed to either fit %ithin, or mimic, the closed-loop design of natural ecosystems$ #he second notion, %hile Buite radical, is perhaps most easily understanda&le$ For decades green &uilders and designers have attempted to create &uildings and communities that %ork %ith nature rather than against it$ Dore recently they have &egun to emphasiCe the use of local resources and materialsO&oth natural materials like earth and reclaimed materials from the %aste stream$ At the same time, the perspective of industrial ecology has emerged to spark the creation of manufacturing systems that mimic ecosystems$ #he first green economic principle, that of selling services in the &uilding industry, is perhaps not so straightfor%ard$ 8n fact, ho% it applies to most

sectors of the economy might seem perple/ing$ #he idea of selling services is actually a very radical concept$ 8t refers I6# to the e/porting of manufacturing to the #hird World, &ut to a &asic change in the aims of economic activity in every sector$ 8t %ould transform all material output from &eing the end-goal of economic development into a simple means of meeting social and environmental need$ #hese service-needs include nutrition, access 9or mo&ility;, health, entertainment, etc$ Service is another %ay of descri&ing Rend-useS$ As Amory (ovins 91@??; initially descri&ed this approach to energy t%o decades ago, %e should primarily &e concerned %ith providing Rhot sho%ers and cold &eerS, not po%er plants or fossil fuels$ 7y focusing on the service-need desired, %e can creatively discover the most elegant and efficient %ay 9or %ays; of meeting this need$ 8nvaria&ly this allo%s radical reductions in the amount of matter and energy used, and, more often than not, a much higher level of Buality$ 8t is possi&le to find e/amples of eco-service in the e/isting economy$ For e/ample, there is the much-cited transformation of Tero/ into a Rdocument companyS that designs its hard%are for disassem&ly and reuse$ 6n the cutting edge of green &usiness, there is also 8nterface Flooring, %hich is voluntarily implementing Re/tended producer responsi&ilityS that drastically reduces %aste$ For the entire economy, ho%ever, displacing production-for-productionQssake %ith a service approach is a much more difficult proposition$ !apitalism has al%ays &een &ased in gro%th and e/pansion$ #here is currently Buite a de&ate as to %hether it is possi&le to completely disconnect monetary from material accumulation$ 8t amounts to a de&ate as to %hether a RgreenS or Rnatural capitalismS is possi&le, or %hether the profit-motive itself must &e replaced %ith other indicators and incentives$ #his essay isnQt the place to resolve that de&ate 9although 8 do deal %ith it in my &ook;$ Whatever %e choose to call an ecological economy, the point is that dematerialiCation and a focus on service-needs reBuire %holesale changes in the rules of the game, and in longstanding economic incentives and disincentives$ #his reBuires a transformation in the form, content and driving forces of the economy$ 8ndustrial ecologists and green economists have made significant contri&utions in outlining the implications of a service approach in manufacturing$ Dy particular concerns revolve around %hat the building industry %ould look like in an ecological service economy$ #o this end, 8

%ant to survey &riefly the realms affected &y a transformation of materials in &uilding$ Aopefully this %ill provide some conte/t for a discussion of community action$

Elements of Material Solutions in Building

John Uoung 9*+++; recently summariCed the hierarchy of materials efficiency that can &e applied to construction materials %ith 3ust a little Bualification:

1% Daterials use avoidance:

this includes scrutiny of consumption needs themselvesOdo %e really need to &uild thisVOand voluntary simplicity$ 8t includes a focus on selling services, rather than products$ 8t also includes the redesign of products, &uildings and settlements to dispense %ith superfluous materials$ #he great efficiencies resulting from ecological ur&an design and mi/ed-use development are in this category$

/%

8ncreased intensity of product use: All kinds of sharing are included here, and thus there is some overlap %ith category W1$ !o-housing developments %ith shared facilities, for e/ample, can su&stantially reduce the volume of materials use$

9%

E/tended product life: 4epair, reuse and remanufacturing are in this category, and in &uilding there is vast potential for deconstruction 9the disassem&ly of &uildings; and the reuse of &uilding materials$ 6ne step further is the design of &uildings to &e easily changed, repaired and disassem&led$

:% Finally, there is materials recovery, or recycling$

#his tends to reBuire more energy, &ut some form of recycling %ill &e ultimately necessary for every material at a point in its life cycle, no matter ho% dura&le, reused, or shared it has &een$

While this categoriCation is not sufficient in itself to deal %ith all the
main dimensions of transforming materials use in construction, it provides a frame%ork that can &e &uilt upon$ We can add concerns of to/icity, human and

ecosystem health, 3o& creation and other aspects mentioned in product evaluation$ ey areas that are crucial to achieve this materials transformation are:

Product Evaluation: RWhat is a green materialSV )econstruction and 4euse Alternative Daterials: the intelligent use of local materialsO&oth natural materials 94ammed earth, co& construction, stra% &ale, etc$; and unorthodo/ resources provided &y the %aste stream: tires, cans, etc$ Eco-industrial production: parks, net%orks and secondary materials industry$ 4egulation " the State: changing the rules of the game !onsumption and consumerism

W!at is a Green Material3

#his is an important Buestion, and cannot &e separated from the Buestion of ho% %e can reduce the use of materials$ 8n a sense, they are t%o articulations of the same dilemma: ho% to understand, revalue and reorganiCe flo%s in the economy$ A green material is one that simultaneously does the most %ith the least, fits most harmoniously %ithin ecosystem processes, helps eliminate the use of other materials and energy, and contri&utes to the attainment of a service-&ased economy$ Understanding %hat a green material is depends on understanding relationshipsOin nature, in the economy, &et%een nature and the economy$ 8t is a very comple/ matter and al%ays changing$ What is considered a green material is also constantly changing$ 8t is certainly important to look closely at every individual product and material, &ut it is often more efficient to look first at the &uilding system% #his is particularly clear %hen %e see systems no% &eing designed to allo% &uildings to &e easily dismantled rather than demolished$ #he conte/t in %hich a material is used is crucial$ A conventional petrochemical-&ased &uilding material might &e used in &uildings and developments that are Buite ecological in overall impact$ Similarly, a RgreenS material might &e deployed or installed in destructive %ays that completely

negate their positive characteristics$ 7y &eing salvaged and reused, a very conventional material might &ecome a green material$ 8tQs a Buestion of relationships that are multidimensional and constantly shifting$

$riteria for evaluating &uilding materials include the general categories of

resources. performance and pollution$ #he resources reBuired for a material can &e consumed in e/traction, production, use or disposal$ #he same is true for pollution$ Performance refers to the energy and resources it can save or sBuander doing its use$ For each category of material, performance means something Buite different$ For e/ample, the performance of insulation must &e 3udged mainly in terms of its thermal resistance, %hile a floor tile %ould &e evaluated more for its dura&ility$ )eciding %hat is RgreenS is sometimes Buite relative$ Some products in a certain category might &e the greenest simply &ecause the availa&le alternatives are so destructive 9for e/ample, !!A-treated %ood or PH! plastic;$ Even the &est current directories of green &uilding materials are often forced to compare apples and oranges %ithin the same categoryOfor e/ample, comparing the energy-intensity of one product %ith the to/icity of another 9Wilson, *+++;$ #he ideal of an o&3ective numerical (!A rating for every product and material %ill al%ays &e a distant dream$ 8t should &e pursued, &ut evaluators, particularly those %ho synthesiCe availa&le data to help consumers make the &est possi&le choices, %ill simply have to do the &est they can$

+ere are a num&er of criteria that have commonly &een used in

evaluating &uilding materials:

ho% much 9em&odied; energy %as used to produce and transport the product and its componentsV %hat kinds of energy sources 9rene%a&le or other%ise; %ere used in producing itV %hat kind of pollution and %aste did its production and transport generate, and ho% much %ill its disposal createV can it &e o&tained locallyV does it make a good use of a local resource, especially an overlooked or underused resourceV is it reused, or recycledV 8f recycled, is it post-consumer 9prefera&le; or post-industrialV

can it &e recycled or reused at the entire of its product lifeV ho% dura&le is itV Xand ho% much and %hat kind of maintenance does it reBuire over its life timeV ho% %ell does it perform its system function, &e it a structural, climatic, surface, or other materialV if applica&le, ho% does the material affect indoor air BualityV

"ther criteria can also &e applied that stem from larger
concerns a&out sustaina&ility$ #hey can &e social, political, ethical and even spiritual$ What are the %orking conditions for producers or installers of these materialsV What kind of la&our is involved, skilled or unskilledV )o these materials contri&ute to community developmentV )o they close gaps, or make useful linkages, in the local economyV 8n some cases, a community might have to make a tough choice &et%een a high-tech energy-saving product and a local lo%-tech traditional material that %ould create sustaina&le livelihoods$ 8f %e are looking at materials from the perspective of Buality, society-%ide, it makes sense, %here practical, to e/amine possi&le social, technological, and health implications at every stage of production and every sector of society$ no%ledge a&out &uilding materials is a crucial dimension of green change in &uilding and design$ Especially on the community level, concrete information a&out social and environmental impacts can have immediate effects, especially %hen it concerns specific products and processes$ #hose %ho can make a differenceOdesigners, &uilders, tradespeople, homeo%ners, &uilding supply retailersOare acutely lacking the &asic information on materials that %ould allo% them to make constructive changes$ 6ftentimes information e/ists, &ut not in a form easily accessi&le to those that need it, %ithout a lot of research or effort$ Easily updatea&le directories and %e&site data&ases are starting to appear in some places, &ut they are needed every%here &ecause %hat is green depends very much on local conditions$ An ecological siding panel from !alifornia %ill not &e so ecological if it has to &e shipped to Iova Scotia$ For this reason, a lack of information a&out materialsOeven on the consumer level in &uildingOhas a ma3or impact on manufacturing in a region$ When &uilders and designers are demanding products %ith lo% em&odied energy, there immediately e/ists a market for a responsive regional manufacturer$ #his is also an opportunity for enlightened municipal politicians

and development officers$ A%areness a&out the o&3ects of everyday life and commerce has &roader implications$ When people are routinely inBuiring a&out larger impacts, a&out %here resources come from, and %here they go, it is only one step further to think a&out similar indicators of development for entire communities$ Product evaluation, la&elling and certification are 3ust one level of a comple/ of possi&le indicators of social and environmental Buality: sustaina&le community indicators$ Ultimately, a%areness of the importance of these indicators are our &est hope to displace simplistic ideologies of gro%th and competitiveness$

Deconstructing t!e Waste Economy

-ogo of Beyond Waste. S( Deconstruction (irm

"ne of the central o&3ectives of green economic transformation is to

move extractive industry from the country to the city % Hirgin materials are no longer appropriate sources for most of societyQs production$ #alk of sustaina&le management of virgin resources %ill remain ideology or selfdelusion %ithout a radical transformation of societyQs infrastructure to cycle materials in relatively closed loops$ As noted a&ove, perhaps <+ percent of the Iorth American economyQs materials throughput is &uilding related$ Up to a third of municipal landfills are construction and demolition 9!"); %aste$ 6ne 9fairly conservative; estimate is that the US produces a&out => million tons of demolition de&ris annually 9EPA, 1@@:;$ !hanging the relationship of people to materials in the &uilding industry %ill clearly have ma3or impacts throughout the economy$ 7ecause the level of %aste is so great, particularly in Iorth America, one %ould think that making su&stantial improvements should &e fairly easy$ 7ut %hen %e consider the institutional character of this %asteOcoupled %ith no% entrenched cultural patternsO%e should not underestimate the difficulties of

dealing %ith the fundamental pro&lems$ 4o&in DurrayQs Creating Wealth From Waste 91@@@; highlights the clash &et%een t%o distinct organiCational mentalities involved in current struggles over %aste$ Ae calls them conflicting modes of RmoderniCationS: 91; the ;$!emico&energy< mode: centraliCed and capital-intensive, %hose main instrument is incinerationOa form of disposal %hich allo%s the traditional linear e/traction-to-disposal economy to remain intactP and $$$ 7/8 ;eco&moderni#ation<: the closed-loop economy, featuring more comple/ flo%s and simple or specialist treatment$ 8t is e/pressed in Rintensive recyclingS and its key innovations are in collection, not in high-tech plants$ Durray %rites, ;recycling demands t!e s5ills of a modern retailer. not a transporter of aggregates<=and hauling aggregates is precisely the &ackground of most of the dominant %aste management firms$ #his contrast in styles is no%here more apparent than in demolition$ )espite some outlandish claims of the demolition industry a&out the amount of material it reclaims and recycles, the capital-intensive &ulldoCe-and-haul approach annually destroys millions of dollars of value 9even in todayQs perverse markets;$ Io% the demolition industry is having to deal %ith a young competitor of the Reco-moderniCingS varietyOthe &urgeoning deconstruction industry$ )econstruction companies e/hi&it the retailer-like fle/i&ility that Durray ascri&es to the ne% collection net%orks of intensive recycling$ #he starting point to make %aste a resource is, of course, source separation, and this reBuires an understanding of &uilding styles, ho% the &uildings originally %ent together, along %ith an appreciation of %hat can &e reused, reclaimed or recycled, and %here the markets for these materials e/ist$ #he appeal of deconstruction is gro%ing rapidly, %ith much of the enthusiasm of the recycling movement of the seventies$ 8t is rightfully seen as a source of ne% skills, of environmental and &uilding preservation, and of 3o&s and community economic development$ According to Ieil Seldman and Dark Jackson of the 8nstitute for (ocal Self-4eliance 98(S4;, R8f deconstruction %ere fully integrated into the U$S$ demolition industry, %hich takes do%n a&out *++,+++ &uildings annually, the eBuivalent of *++,+++ 3o&s %ould &e created and M1 &illion %orth of &uilding materials %ould &e returned to the economy, %ith accompanying reductions in virgin material e/traction$S

,he difficulties the ne% ecopreneurs face are, of course, su&stantial$

)espite the fact that as recently as t%o generations ago the demolition industry %as involved in reuse, many of these traditional skills have had to &e reinvented$ )econstruction cre%s are often under severe time constraints$ )espite the fact that &uildings can sit vacant for years, once a development decision is made, a developer is often under pressure to take do%n &uildings in the shortest time period$ 7ecause of the time and care that deconstruction reBuires, la&our costs can &e much more than demolition, and much greater precautions must &e taken around %orker safety$ Workers also reBuire more training$ #he sites usually reBuire more space for proper sorting and stacking of materials, and the materials must &e transported %ith care$ Daterials must &e carefully inventoried, and if Rsite saleS is not feasi&le, then the materials must go to salvage yards or resource recovery parks$ !ompared to the old days, modern deconstructionists must deal %ith the increased use of composite materials, laminates and po%erful adhesives$ !ertain &uilding types are more conducive to deconstruction, %ith paneliCed or tim&er-framed structures the most desira&le$ )ifferent regions present different challenges, %ith the most advantageous places &eing those %ith high landfill charges and %ell-developed markets for recycla&les$ )espite the o&stacles, there are many nota&le success stories$ 8n places like Aartford !#$, Portland 64, Dinneapolis, and San Francisco, deconstruction initiatives are proving they can financially compete %ith, or outperform, demolition firms$ Dany are non-profit, some are %orker-o%ned$ #hey are retaining money in their local economies and saving lots of pu&lic e/pense for %aste disposal$ #hey are also creating innovative %in-%in situations$ 7ecause many are non-profits, private o%ners %ho contract %ith them for deconstruction services can get ta/ deductions %orth the value of recovered materials donated to the programme$ A 1,*++-sBuare-foot house typically can claim from M>,+++ to M:,+++ 9Seldman and Jackson, *+++;$ #hey are parado/ically also creating some opportunities for conventional !") outfits$ 8n many places, deconstruction and !") firms are %orking together to efficiently take do%n

&uildings$ #he demolition industry focuses on the recycling of &uilding materials, %hile the deconstructionQs role is recovery and reuse$ #he !") companies have also &een pushed &y the ne% situation to recycle more and more of %hat they handle$

,he ultimate frontier in deconstruction ho%ever is in design for

disassembly. very much as in manufacturing$ 7uildings live and change, much like organisms$ Hery fe% &uildings are used for the purposes for %hich they %ere designed even five years after construction 97rand, 1@@<;$ Ecological &uilding design for change %ould incorporate three principles 97erge, *+++;: 1% Separate layers2 All &uilding contain such layers, &ut they are not usually easily separa&le$ #hey include interior, space plan, mechanical services, structure and skin$ #he structure %ould &e designed for the longest life Y>+ years$ E/terior surfaces change a&out every *+ years$ Wiring, plum&ing, and other surfaces tend to %ear out or go o&solete every ? to 1> years$ 8nterior %alls and other elements of the floor plan tend to change every fe% years in some &uildings, especially commercial onesOso they %ould &e designed for easy dismantling$ /% 4ossibilities for disassembly >it!in eac! layer2 sections that tend to %ear Buicker can &e more reinforced or more easily replaced$ 9% ?se of standardi#ed monomaterial components2 this includes primary monomaterials like untreated %ood and secondary monomaterials like concrete, glass or cellulose fi&re$ !omponents made of different materials laminated together arenQt appropriate &ecause their different elements tend to decay at different rates$ #hey are also difficult or impossi&le to separate, and they make for inferior Buality if recycled %hile &lended$ #he more deconstruction catches on, the more pressure %ill gro% for design for disassem&ly$ 7elo% 8 %ill revie% some factorsOlike product ste%ardship legislation and ta/ationOthat %ill undou&tedly &e necessary for reuse to really take off$ 7ut there are some infrastructural initiatives that can also help$ When gar&age &ecomes a resource, it %ill have to &e more central and visi&le to society$ #he phenomenon of Resource Recovery 7RR8 par5s is an innovation intended to displace dumps$ !alifornia is a primary spa%ning ground in Iorth America for these parks, &ecause the state has mandated

su&stantial diversion from landfills for every community$ #hey are sites for much more than !") resources, &ut &uilding materials have played a ma3or role in their development$ #hey are places %here materials are &rought for resale, or for reprocessing and resale$ #hey are places %here &usinesses can share space, operating eBuipment like forklifts, repair services, management and technical e/pertise, accounting services, 3o& training and much more$ #hey also feature sho%rooms for various products$ #hey %ill hopefully &ecome an ecological-economic ne/us for pu&lic-private cooperation and all kinds of net%orking 9!alifornia 8ntegrated Waste Danagement 7oard, *+++;$ Several are no% in the process of development in !aliforniaOin !a&aCon, San (eandro and 7erkeley$ #hey seem to have great potential for connecting construction and manufacturing activity, particularly through interfacing %ith eco-industrial parks and net%orks 9(o%e, 1@@?;$ 8 %ill look at eco-industrial developments and manufacturing after a &rief diversion into another crucial area of eco-&uilding: alternative materials$

'lternative Materials ,he evaluation and promotion of green &uilding materials should pro&a&ly
&egin %ith conventional materials since these are the most used$ 7ut in a transition to sustaina&ility, %e must &egin to think more and more of materials that fit %ithin ecosystem processes$ #hese are the alternative materials$ #hey vary from place to place, &ioregion to &ioregion, &ut some of the &etter kno%n, and increasingly popular, in Iorth America are stra% &ale, rammed earth, ado&e, co&, cord%ood, stone and RearthshipS &uildings made of old tires and other gar&age 9!hiras, *+++P !happell, 1@@:;$ #hey all make e/cellent use of local resources and are produced %ith little energy$ #heir &uilding processes tend to &e la&our-intensive and resourcesaving$ Dost are natural drying and eminently recycla&le or even reusa&le$ #hey are also non-to/ic and engender little pollution$ Some, like earthships 9&uilt from old tires; and stra% &ale construction, make good use of a %aste

product 9Steen, Steen " 7ain&ridge, 1@@<;$ Dost of the alternative &uilding techniBues are updated versions of traditional &uilding methods that %ere s%ept aside &y the industrial revolution$ Dany of the materials are in fact virtually ideal materials for the climates in %hich they are found$ Daterials like stra% are natural insulatorsOone of the only completely non-to/ic forms of insulation$ 6ther materials like earth have great thermal mass, keeping %armer in %inter and cooler in summer$ While many people associate these materials %ith rural settings, this is primarily &ecause the countryside has &een more conducive to e/perimentation$ #here is no reason %hy rammed earth, earthships and even stra% &ale couldnQt &e used as easily in cities$ #he future of sustaina&le cities lay in lo%-rise, high- and medium-density settlements, featuring lots of plant gro%th that can provide food, climate-control, energy and %ater eco-infrastructure, along %ith neigh&ourhood employment$ 8f green cities are to value and harness the natural productivity of the landscapeOincluding &ackyards, alleys and rooftopsOthey must also harness the social productivity of vernacular &uilding and design, and of the informal economy 9Aough, 1@@>P )$ Aayden, 1@:<;$ Economies must find %ays of supporting the gardening, preventive health care, self-help &uilding and other vital forms of production that the e/isting capitalist economy tends to consider forms of passive consumption$ Alvin #offler 91@?*, 1@:+; first called these emerging informal activities RprosumptionS$ #offler %as totally o&livious to the ecological dimension, &ut %riters like Schumacher, 8llich, Winner, Dumford and ,oodman have not only called attention to the importance of these sectors, &ut also to the need to design and implement technologies to support them$ #he alternative materials are eminently suited to RprosumptiveS activities$ 4ammed earth, for e/ample, takes soil right from the &uilding e/cavation, eliminating most of the vast processing industry devoted to %ood frame or concrete construction 9Easton, 1@@=;$ Dost of the techniBues can &e learned &y the people %ho %ill live in the &uildings$ #hey can participate in the design$ #hey can see and feel ho% nature supports them, and understand %hat they must do to return that support$

#he implications of greater use of alternative materials cannot therefore be fully understood ith a life cycle analysis $ #hey also involve social relationships that are fundamental to creating sustaina&le communities and economies$ #hey can help to undermine the forms of alienation of producer from consumer, of professional from client, of design from e/ecution, and of individual from community, that so underlie unsustaina&le practices$

Industrial Ecosystems 'lternative materials and deconstruction &y no

means eliminate the role of manufacturing, &ut manufacturing must take on a very different configuration in a green economy$ 8t must &egin to complement the closed loops created &y deconstructionFreuse and &y natural materials, &ut it must also create its o%n loops through the internet%orking of firms and processes that can approach the goal of Cero %aste$ Eco-industrial comple/es do this &y making sure that, as in nature, every output of a process serves as an input for some other process$ #he phenomenon of eco-industrial parks, inspired &y the some%hat fortuitous alund&org )enmark model, is %ell-kno%n$ Firms %ork to save resources, energy and model &y cooperating to use &y-products$ E8 net%orks are also inspired partly &y the success of regions like the #hird 8taly %here the cooperation of small firms in fle/i&le manufacturing net%orks allo% these firms to achieve %hat %ould ordinarily reBuire a giant corporationOand they do it more fle/i&ly$ Eco-industrial park and net%ork initiatives are &eing com&ined %ith resource recovery parks in places like !alifornia, %hich are trying to divert materials from landfills$ 7uilding materials are a &ig part of this, and in places like Alameda !ounty, development authorities are trying to create ne% secondary materials industry &y diverting materials into eco-industrial parks for reprocessing or for making ne% products from recycled materials 9!ornell WE8, 1@@@;$ 8nevita&ly, ho%ever, this kind of manufacturing still prioritiCes local production for local consumption and gives %orkers a sense of contri&uting to their communities$

Danufacturing materials off the site %ill, of course, al%ays &e appropriate, no matter ho% &ioregional and decentraliCed &uilding &ecomes$ 8t %ill even &e appropriate to pull some operations that are currently done on site, off the site so that greater Buality-control is possi&le$ Engineered lum&er and concrete %affle panels are e/amples of products that can su&stantially reduce materials use compared to current practices$ Harious forms of natural materials Olike stra% and hempOcan also &e usefully employed in manufacturing to produce panels, insulations and the like$ Dany of todayQs highly-touted e/amples of industrial ecology are, almost em&arrassingly, comprised of some distinctly unecological elementsOlike coal-fired or nuclear po%er-plants, oil refineries and petrochemical firms$ Aopefully, these are transitional phenomena, on the %ay to fully ecological industries$ 6ne key principle of industrial ecology is that, since production depends on comple/ Rfood %e&sS linking diverse producers, the RfoodS involved should &e healthy and non-to/ic enough to &e easily shared$ #o/ic elements can &e isolated in their o%n sealed loops, &ut this limits fle/i&ility and increases risks$ ,reen manufacturing must ultimately move to%ard the production and use of &enign materials that can &e Rglo&ally recycledSOthat is, a&le at their end to &e composted or reunited %ith nature in some %ay that makes them a potentially ne% resource 97erge, *+++;$

8ndustrial ecologist Aardin #i&&s 91@@:; %rote a&out the potential of

com&ining &enign materials %ith eco-net%orking$ #he key, he said, R%ould &e first to identify a set of materials %hich have long-term geophysiological compati&ility$ A fairly small set of acceptable materials could pro&a&ly &e used to supply eighty percent or more of all production needs$ #he ne/t step %ould &e to devise clusters of production processes %hich use some or all these materials, and %hich can &e interlocked ecosystem-style$ 6nce this %as done, the resulting industrial clusters or industrial ecosystems might stand a reasona&le chance of &eing sta&le over time$S From this standpoint, the importance of developing the Rcar&ohydrate economyS of plant-&ased materials is a crucial part of industrial ecology, one that should make the net%orking &et%een firms and industries su&stantially safer$ #he focus of ,unter PauliQs 91@@@; Gero Emission 4esearch 8nitiative 9GE48; is in creating 3ust such net%orks of car&ohydrate-&ased production$

Rules. Regulation and $oordination

logo of I-SR @e> Rules 4roAect

Because the role of the state is so vast and comple/, this essay can only
revie%, Buite selectively, some of its key tasks around dematerialiCation$ 8t is, ho%ever, essential that %e deal %ith the Rrules of the gameS &ecause focusing the economy on service, and on closing productionFconsumption loops, reBuires &asic changes in the economyQs incentives and disincentives$ #he role of the state in a green economy is dealt %ith more comprehensively in my &ook$ 8t must &e emphasiCed, though, that the state is not the only means of regulation$ #here are various elements of an economy that put limits on certain activities, and encourage other things$ #he scale of the economy is perhaps the most significant$ A community-&ased economy, %ith much more local production for local consumption, &uilds in a certain amount of accounta&ility$ A community!based financial system can &e an even more direct influence on investment$ A place that has a num&er of po%erful financial institutions that lend only, or preferentially, for economic activities that meet the &ioregionQs ecological and social needs %ill have a great impact on the nature of regional production$ Community currencies are another phenomenon that, if %ell developed enough, can function as forms of economic self-regulation$ #hat said, the role of the state is still of undenia&le importance$ And this role goes &eyond regulation, or making and enforcing the rules$ 8t also includes coordination=a function that 8 &elieve &ecomes ever more important in a service-&ased economy$ 7ecause the rules of industrial capitalism encourage greed, self-aggrandiCement and accumulation, the state must consistently &e a policeman, %atching for individuals or firms that transgress the limits$ When the rules are changed to &e incentives for service, human development and dematerialiCation, the stateQs role of policeman &ecomes much less critical than its role as coordinator$ #his coordinator role is also important &ecause the stateQs planning role in a green economy cannot &e a top-do%n deterministic one in the state-socialist model$ Planning is ever more important, &ut it must &e more participatory and fle/i&le &ecause of the very diverse and decentraliCed nature of ecological production$

For dematerialiCation, the most important rules must surely &e those reBuiring e*tended producer responsibility 7E4R8 and product ste>ards!ip% #hey constitute ma3or changes in property la% and lia&ility that have, until no%, limited corporate accounta&ility and encouraged %aste$ When a producer must &e lia&le for a product over its entire lifecycle, there is every incentive to conserve materials and to provide service$ #here is great incentive to make Rproducts of serviceS disassem&la&le, reusa&le and or even composta&le$ 7uilding materials present a real challenge in terms of ho% e/tended producer responsi&ility should &e applied$ R#ake &ackS legislation is o&viously not the simple ans%er$ #here are many different kinds of products, and different strategies and policies %ould have to &e employed to achieve the goal of closed loop production and the minimiCation of materials use$ Product ste%ardship legislation, &uilding codes and development la%s, and green ta/ation are among the many tools availa&le to accomplish the 3o&$ 6n the macro scale, development and housing policy %ould have to prioritiCe Buality shelter instead of the production and sale of &uildings$ Forcing developers to &ear the full costs of infrastructure, and enforcing mi/eduse that com&ines %orkplaces and residences in the same area, are other steps$ From here, it is a short step to develop incentives not 3ust for resource-efficient ur&an intensification 9or densification;, &ut for ecological infill% #his is intensification that not only increases density &ut also designs &uildings and landscapes to provide food, purify %ater, heat and cool &uildings, etc$ !odes, &y-la%s and ta/ation that encourage the preservation, reutiliCation, and adaptation of e/isting &uildings, rather than &uilding ne%, can also save vast Buantities of materials$

,a/es are particularly important in &uilding the real cost of materials

into market prices$ #hey can contri&ute to changing the destructive relationship &et%een la&our and materials in the industrial economies, %here materials are cheap and la&our is e/pensive$ When materials are su&stantially more e/pensive, they %ill &e conserved more$ )ump charges and disposal ta/es are crucial means to encourage deconstruction, reuse and recycling$ #a/es on ne% materials, especially virgin materials, are also appropriate, along %ith ta/es on petrochemical or other polluting products$ #a/es and charges can complement t%o other very direct forms of government action: product or substance bans. and green procurement% Product &ans might seem draconian, &ut in fact, as 7arry !ommoner 91@@+,