[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: green building and plastics--

[Lawrence Lile]

I would take a slightly different tack. Any of the materials we use in a
building have "Green" and (shall we coin the term) "Brown"
characteristics.  I don't want to write off a whole class of products,
even though my first reaction to "plastic" is not overwelmingly positive
(I think of cheap throwaway toys).  

Given that "green-ness" is a continuum, the fellow is asking what
advantages can plastics offer that other materials can't, for a Green
builder?  Recycle-ability, recycled content are big items.  Renewable
feedstocks such as corn and soy are advantages, when that is possible.
Biodegradability in some of the newer plastics is an advantage.  Being a
water, air  and vapor barrier, the ability to be very thin, light and
flexible are others.  Low cost is often an advantage.  While some
plastics degrade quickly, others are able to last lifetimes, and
longevity is a Green characteristic.  Although some plastics are
fragile, toughness, or resistance to abuse, is another characteristic.
You can make a plastic thing in any shape that you can imagine, an
amazing advantage.  Lest I sound like a cheerleader, these need to be
balanced against the negatives, such as offgassing, environmental
problems at the factories, use of nonrenewable oil as feedstock, massive
energy input, and throwaway products. 

I worked in a plastics factory for a while.  My job was to clean up
their hazardous waste stream, and get us off of the front page of the
papers for being "bad guys".  These factories are not faceless
behemoths, they are staffed with real people that care about the world,
and most of those people are trying to do the right thing, like Nitya.
We tend to write them off as polluters that resist change.  Yet they
could be our most powerful allies, changing a historically polluting
industry into a greener industry.  The Plastics industry thrives on
innovation and creativity, They come up with the most amazing new
products every day,and they would love to come up with more stuff that
we Green builders need.  If we paint them as "bad guys", the
conversation is pretty much over.  The Construction industry itself has
been responsible for more damage to the environment than anyone can
count.  We're the "bad guys", too.  If we realize that they are, in many
cases, eager to make their industry Greener, and need our positive
input, the conversation starts fresh.  

     

--Lawrence Lile