“Spec it Green” Forum in NYC
- By Noreen Adler
- Published 05/2/2008
Noreen Adler
Founder and President, Ecobrownstone
Noreen is Founder and President of Ecobrownstone. She has been a resident of brownstone Brooklyn (Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens) for over two decades and has planned, designed and managed a wide range of renovation and real estate development projects in Brooklyn and elsewhere. As a developer she is a member of the NYC Committee evaluating the LEED for Homes Guidelines for application in New York. She also has a personal passion for sculptural relief ceramic tiles and murals which she has designed and fabricated at her studio on the Gowanus Canal.
Last night (May 1, 2008) many local manufacturers and an array of industry professionals gathered for an event, presented by NYIRN (the New York Industrial Retention Network) a not-for-profit that promotes NYCs manufacturing sector, to hear a group of building industry and manufacturing specialists give advice on how to “green” a manufacturing process, and how to spec green products. One spoken, and unspoken, theme that ran through the presentations was the concept that you must pay careful attention to detail in both the manufacturing process, in the analysis of the green-ness of products you choose to spec for your job, and in the instructions you give to the professionals working for you (contractors, architects etc.) regarding exactly what your goals are. This is consistent with the advice this website has been giving concerning the need to analyze the issues around every aspect of your renovation project in order to achieve a "green" result.
For example, one of the panelists pointed out that LEED® for Homes sets limited goals for the use of green products because it only deals with products as they are installed on the job site and not with their manufacture. So, for example, to get LEED® credits you may need to use low or no-VOC adhesives to attach your wood moldings to your walls, but LEED® does not address whether the molding itself is made with low or no-VOC components or has a non-toxic manufacturing process. Look beyond the guidelines and rating systems; they are not meant to allow you to abdicate the analysis decision making process.
It’s all about education, and sometimes your contractor, designer or architect may need to be educated too. Be specific about actual brands of products you want to use and the specific things you want to avoid – see our Article “How to evaluate green products” for guidance on this point.
Also, remember that you the consumer will pay for manufacturing waste and disposal of hazardous substances in the manufacturing process -- the manufacturer doesn’t throw that in for free, it’s built into the cost of goods sold when determining selling price – so putting effort into identifying products that have green manufacturing processes can be beneficial on many levels.
For example, one of the panelists pointed out that LEED® for Homes sets limited goals for the use of green products because it only deals with products as they are installed on the job site and not with their manufacture. So, for example, to get LEED® credits you may need to use low or no-VOC adhesives to attach your wood moldings to your walls, but LEED® does not address whether the molding itself is made with low or no-VOC components or has a non-toxic manufacturing process. Look beyond the guidelines and rating systems; they are not meant to allow you to abdicate the analysis decision making process.
It’s all about education, and sometimes your contractor, designer or architect may need to be educated too. Be specific about actual brands of products you want to use and the specific things you want to avoid – see our Article “How to evaluate green products” for guidance on this point.
Also, remember that you the consumer will pay for manufacturing waste and disposal of hazardous substances in the manufacturing process -- the manufacturer doesn’t throw that in for free, it’s built into the cost of goods sold when determining selling price – so putting effort into identifying products that have green manufacturing processes can be beneficial on many levels.
