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Green Buildings in Style
When it comes to affordable housing, green is the new “it” color.
In New York City, developers who promise to incorporate green building principles earn extra points when applying for low-income housing contracts. In Chicago, developers earn credit for building roof gardens that help insulate buildings and improve air quality. And in Los Angeles, infamous for its poor air quality, environmentally friendly building practices have become standard in city building codes.
Green is in – so much these days there’s an organization that rates contractors on their green-ness. The U.S. Green Building Council has created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program to train and certify architects, builders, and designers to make sure they’re as green as they say they are.
LEED scores contractors and their projects for how well they perform on indoor environmental air quality, energy efficiency, efficient use of land resources, environmentally friendly building materials, and other practices.
The National Association of Homebuilders and the Enterprise Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to expanding affordable housing, has also developed its own set of green building standards.
There are plenty of good reasons for green housing to go mainstream. Research over the past several decades has shown that many of the toxic chemicals used in building materials for homes and decks can cause adverse health effects. Inefficient heating and cooling systems, and lack of proper insulation, cause us to burn unnecessary amounts of fossil fuels, which not only costs homeowners more but also contributes to global warming. Moreover, poor air indoor air quality exacerbates illnesses such as allergies, asthma, heart disease, and respiratory problems.
Read more about this story here.
For more information on LEED, click here.
To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org
