[Greenbuilding] bamboo, formaldehyde

[Andrew Pace, CSI]

David,

You are absolutely correct in saying that the choices depend on the client.
We work with thousands of people on an annual basis.  Some literally tell us
that they don¹t give a rip about the environment, they just want a healthy
home for their asthmatic children.  On other hand, we¹ve had just the
opposite.  There are products that walk the fine line in between a couple of
those categories, but they are few and far between.

I inform my clients from the start that at some point in the design/build
process, a decision will have to made that will require you to choose
between those three.  When I say choose a shade and stick with it, what I
mean is, the customer needs to pre-determine their shade to eliminate costly
delays and loss of focus.  Since my company really focuses on human health,
I developed an internal ³checklist² we use here for our clients.
Considering the project timeframe and budget, we give material
recommendations based on a cost/health benefit ratio.  We can easily adapt
this by including the other two shades as well.



Andrew J. Pace, CSI
Principal

Safe Building Solutions
"The Nations Premier Supplier
of Healthy and Sustainable Building Materials"

W292 S4498 Hillside Rd.
Waukesha, WI 53189
Phone: (262) 968-5070
Fax:  (262) 968-5079

www.safebuildingsolutions.com



On 2/7/07 1:41 PM, "David Bergman" <bergman at cyberg.com> wrote:

> Agreed. I do factor in and discuss the embodied energy of transportation. But
> I'd hoped that formaldehyde was not an issue with the "better" suppliers.
> 
> I'm not sure, though, I agree with "Choose human health, global
> environmentalism or resource sustainability as your shade of green and stick
> with it." If I read that correctly, you're suggesting picking one of the
> categories to focus on (exclusively?). I think the choices depend (A) on the
> client's priorities and (B) are more usually a weighting/prioritizing of some
> sort.
> 
> David
> DAVID BERGMAN ARCHITECT / FIRE & WATER LIGHTING + FURNITURE
> architecture . interiors . ecodesign . lighting . furniture
> bergman at cyberg.com   www.cyberg.com <http://www.cyberg.com>
> 241 Eldridge Street #3R, New York, NY 10002
> t 212 475 3106    f 212 677 7291
> 
> At 02:23 PM 2/7/2007, Andrew Pace, CSI wrote:
>> One needs to determine the shade of green they are attempting to use as the
>> criteria for picking products.  Sure, bamboo is a fast growth species, so it
>> definitely scores points for resource sustainability.  But considering how
>> far it travels to its end destination, and the fact that all containers
>> coming from China are sprayed with pesticides, I have to wonder what
>> environmental benefit is actually realized.
>> 
>> There is no perfectly green building product.  Choose human health, global
>> environmentalism or resource sustainability as your shade of green and stick
>> with it.  Very rarely does a product fit all three categories.
>>