January 2009
For The Record
A Need for Green
It seems to me that the practice of “going green” is no longer a philosophy being adopted only by the granola-eating tree huggers of the world. Businesses everywhere are taking steps necessary to show they are serious about being green. LEED certifications, sustainability, energy conservation ??? companies are doing whatever it takes to hop aboard the green bandwagon.
This was evidenced in November during the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston. About 28,000 people attended this year’s expo, roughly 5,000 more than attended the 2007 Greenbuild Expo held in Chicago. The first thing I noticed was the strong attendance by a wide variety of people. One vendor described the attendees as wearing coats and ties, rather than Birkenstocks. While that may be extreme categorizing, he did have a point.
Looking around during the show, I noticed the onset of booths from many of the technology giants. Going green is no longer a grassroots effort of a few companies sprinkled here and there. It’s a way of doing business that is necessary if a company is to be at the forefront of its industry.
We are lucky that masonry is naturally a sustainable, green material. As for the rest of the players in the construction industry, they’ll have to find ways to be green, and find them quickly. The green ship has sailed, and I am afraid those who missed the boat just might drown.