For far too long only the people who can afford to be green and environmentally responsible have done so. The push of numerous Foundations, the Federal Government and a handful of States to bring green building to the under privileged has started. An internal social equity component has been initiated by such nonprofits as the US Green Building Council but has yet to be realized to people outside of the organization except in New Orleans. How do these subsidies and initiatives effect the green building movement?
For far too long only the people who can afford to be green and environmentally responsible have done so. It’s great that they are aligning their financial resources with their environmental goals but what about the people who can’t afford to make these changes? What about the people who work two or more jobs just to put a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs – they don’t have time to even learn about the opportunities to lower their utility bills and improve the health of their indoor environment.

So we refocused part of our business to meet this perceived need. For the past year or so my focus in the company has been on affordable green housing and how to bring education and green building to the people. Working with affordable developers to build green buildings has been quite a challenge but a very rewarding endeavor.

Currently we are working on projects across the country from single family container homes, manufactured panelized housing, single family attached and detached, and multifamily projects. We have been successful in getting grants from the Enterprise and Home Depot foundations and lots of sustainable building tax and low income housing tax credits. Some of these projects have received so much grant money that they are achieving LEED Platinum status with huge photovoltaics and ground source heat pump systems. These projects are greener than any market rate project we have ever worked on!

My question is whether or not or how long we as a community think this is sustainable? I think super green projects for the masses are awesome but I almost feel as though we have gone too far and created an unsustainable business model. Developers are relying on the subsidies to make their projects green. In my opinion typical green construction techniques and products need to become recognized standard practice. We need to teach all developers how to build great green buildings without subsidies. We need to make green standard practice not something that is achievable only if you get grant money!

What do you think?