In a blog post by Heather Beal over at THRESHOLD, she asks “So what’s prevented the “yes-in-my-backyard” (YIMBY) attitude toward sustainability from spreading like wildfire among green professionals?”. She even offers up a three tiered approach to having a greener home on a budget. But really I think as green building professionals we should be held to higher standard and move beyond the three tiered approach.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has their Walk The Walk campaign advocating for all design projects within the office to be green/high performance projects. But that is focusing on what a design professional should be considering when designing/implementing projects. But it does nothing for advocating our lifestyles and what we do with our own home improvement projects. We should be leading by example. If you truly believe in the mission, you should be taking what you do in the office and bring it home. So the question is, with some of the details that you draw/build for your projects, would you use them on your own home? In essence if you consider yourself a green building professional in any way, you should bring you knowledge and expertise to your own home projects and use your own home as a living laboratory.
Yes, like some of our clients, we may have limited budgets, and also cursed with seeing all these great products or cool ideas that we would love to use. However that should not stop us from spending few extra bucks to improve the efficiency of our home, or buy the low VOC paint, adhesive or other materials. Because we know the benefits these stratagies have on lowering our utility bill and carbon footprint, as well as improving the indoor air quality and the quality of our families lives.
So follow me as I lead by example with my own home. Turning my energy hog home into a lean, mean, green machine. Improving the energy efficiency, the indoor air quality and the overall lifestyle of my family.
-Josh
Joshua has a degree in architecture and is a LEED Accredited Professional that has worked in the design and construction industry for over 10 years, focusing his efforts on energy efficiency and building science. He has organized multiple events in Ohio to give young designers the opportunity to learn about “green” home design and produce actual projects. He was also a key player in Ohio’s first LEED for Homes Platinum project. Joshua is also a certified Building Analyst through the Building Performance Institute and performs home energy audits, assisting home owners in reducing their energy usage.
