Thoughts on GreenBuild 2007

I’d  like to start by saying thanks to USGBC for taking Green from the province of  impassioned environmentalist to mainstream commerce. Thanks to USGBC, Green is now a proper noun versus just another color.

Record show attendance and nearly a thousand exhibitors made it obvious that Green is big business. And that’s not a bad thing. If products are less toxic, more sustainable and nicer to the planet, there’s no need to question the value or politics of Green.

Yet, as I walked through the expo, I began to feel like I was in a Green Rush. Is there really a need for 5 different indoor air quality certification entities? Does a product emblazoned with:  floor score , Certified Indoor Advantage , Green Guard , CRI Plus, and Green Seal mean that credible long term standards are now in place to make the planet safer, better, more Green. And what’s frustrating is that in all the noise and hype, there are companies really doing great work and their message is being lost.

With the surge of Green communication, for-profit and nonprofit organizations will need to be smarter and more adept at communicating their messages. Bambi nibbling on grass just isn’t a relevant image. Headlines that state “Doing our part” cast more doubt than credibility. Doing “our part” should be the price of admission.

Companies have a brief opportunity to be rewarded for selling Green. But that time will pass and there will be an expectation that all products have Green characteristics, i.e. smarter, friendlier, more simple and more considerate to the world we live in. This isn’t going to be a temporary fad, but rather a new definition of how a viable business conducts commerce.

The idea of marketing Green will be something that will be difficult to explain to future generations. Imagine telling your grandchildren that once upon a time, really caustic products were sold and buildings were designed with minimal thought or consideration for energy consumption or water use. They’ll ask, “How could that have happened?” We’ll just sigh like we do now when we look back on old tobacco ads that preach the health benefits of smoking.