[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Totally turned off by high prices for green products

[Lawrence Lile]

Expensive Green building products are easy to find, but all Green building products are not expensive.  
 
One thing that is important to know:  Green building is not a black-and-white issue, and there may be products that have some Green characteristics that you can showcase, while ignoring others.  I would not advise trying to build something that is absolutely perfectly Green, because you'll find (as you already have) that it is nearly impossible.  The only perfectly Green bathroom is a virgin forest, and that wouldn't be much fun in the winter, nor meet any local sewer regulations.  TP is kinda rough, too.   
 
In my mind, the most important Green characteristics are those that affect energy use.  These are hard to showcase because they are not flashy - Cellulose insulation, for instance, is really very dull and looks a lot like the inside of a vacuum cleaner bag.  A super low-flush toilet looks about like a regular one.  Demand water heaters are just an ugly metal box.  Radiant floors are invisible, looking just like a regular floor.  But try this - sell someone on having an energy efficient water heater that provides endless hot water, and then they step out on a floor that isn't cold!
 
If I were looking for tile, the Green characteristics I might highlight would simply be local production - the closest tile plant would be the one I'd pay attention to first.  If the price were $11 a foot, I'd keep looking.  
 
If you can't find cabinets that are totally Green, then try to find some made without formadlehyde glues, or try to find some made nearby out of actual wood instead of particle board.  If they won't do, then settle for cabinets made out of real wood from farther away.  These certainly won't be the cheapest cabinets, but I'm sure someone makes them for less than $2300. 
 
An old joke goes like this: there are five stages to a construction project:  Enthusiasm, Despair, Search for the Guilty, Blaming of the Innocent, and finally Awards and Congratulations for Anyone who was Not Involved.  The despair phase seems to kick in right after the sticker shock.   Nobody selling $2300 bathroom vanities has a real hope of surviving as a business, quite likely there is a conventional cabinetmaker who has quietly converted their process to handle zero-formaldehyde glues, and is eager to do business with you. 
 
--Lawrence Lile
 

________________________________

From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org on behalf of Geri Spieler
Sent: Sun 12/17/2006 1:50 AM
To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: [BULK] [Greenbuilding] Totally turned off by high prices for green products



I have been trying to design a green bathroom for our showroom. We have a
very well respected bathroom remodeling company in Northern California.

We have been in business for 30 years, are very conscientious about the
products we use, we recycle all tear out materials and always work hard to
use wall, tile and floor products that do not off-gas.

In my search to design a green display bathroom I have run into insanely
expensive products and materials.

Frankly, I don't think I'll be able to sell it. After searching for a decent
bathroom vanity cabinet, 60" wide and 22" deep, the cheapest I came up with
was a $2300.00 cabinet---wholesale to us.

Tile for $11 a square foot (and it isn't even pretty), vanity slab tops for
$3,000.00.

Who can afford this? How are we supposed to support green building when the
price is so ridiculously high?

If anyone out there has vendors that build bathroom cabinets, floor tile and
tops that are reasonable, I'd love to hear from you. At this point I'm about
to abandon my plan to have a totally green bathroom display.

Geri
geri at thebathroominc.com

--
Geri
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