Last week the Dallas HBA's two-day seminar for "Green Building for Building Professionals" was a packed house of builders, suppliers, city planners, and designers.  It was exciting to have a large turnout to learn about sustainable home construction however, there was resistance to acknowledge the feasibility of making these changes with their customers.  While I have attended HBA classes across north Texas as a title sponsor, this was a more valuable forum for the readiness of the Dallas market.  Our instructor was Armando Cobo of Albuquerque, NM who recently became a Texan.  The stagnant market rendered it their loss and our gain.  Armando has designed and/or built over 300 sustainable homes.  As a founding member of Build Green New Mexico, he immediately became involved in Green Built Texas and the HBA to spread his knowledge of building green and what it takes to get there.

While we covered everything from the many elements affecting indoor air quality to analyzing the life cycle costs to the consumer, I could not help but notice the disconnect between an expert from New Mexico and successful builders from all over north Texas.  Many had gotten their feet wet but were not practicing the whole building approach of green building. Although there was some resistance at first, it became a bit of a fireside chat as to pragmatically find solutions.  Most builders expressed that their customers would not pay for a higher upfront cost even if they received a return on their investment in a few years.  Some even dismissed that certain methods were possible to implement and be competitive.  Several expressed distrust that architects know enough to properly detail the drawings and doubt that subcontractors were reliable to go the extra mile.  One began to get a feel for the temperature of the building market.  Especially in tough economic times,  many feared loosing jobs to a low bidder because the customer does not see the value in green building.  All in attendance were aware of the pending change but deferring to act.  Those that don't invest in learning new technologies are probably the ones that don't go the extra mile to assure quality control on your project.

My personal take-away from this forum is the need for more demand.  Homeowners are going to have to demand it from their builders and architects, builders are going to have to demand it from their architects and subcontractors, and we all are going to have to demand it from our government and suppliers.  This is a vast, quickly changing industry and no one has the full circle of knowledge.  We need to bury our pride and ask questions because "green" is not going away.  It will be trial and error for a while but if you are not taking the extra time in this slow economy to educate yourself and better your business, you REALLY won't have the time when things pick up.  The sooner you bring on a knowledgeable team of contractors, the more fluid, timely, and high quality your project will be.  Don't wait until your house is designed to select a lot and don't wait until your HVAC system is designed to selected an engineer.  Pick one area of sustainable design and really do your research.  Take the things you learned and test your current or prospective business partners.  For example, if your builder has never used a HERS rater on their jobs, any advanced mechanical systems may be useless and could nullify other efforts.  Don't know what a HERS rater is?  Well, I think you have just found your first topic of research.

10 Things You Should Know About Finding the Right Green Building Team

1. Building green does not have to cost more but less educated builders and contractors always cost more.
2. You do not have to be held captive to the limited knowledge of your subcontractors. The one paying should always have the upper hand.
3. Architects are not always educated on current techniques but are valuable as they act as another check and balance as well as a coordinator on projects.
4. It is usually better to not do anything at all than to do sustainability half way or incorrect.
5. Use resources such as the Dallas Residential Green Building Checklist,  the City of Dallas Green Building Guidebook,  and the NAHB Green Building Guidelines
6. Use third party inspectors, designers, and verifiers where possible.  It protects builders and homeowners from false claims.
7. Select a full team upfront.  No trade is educated enough to consider all things outside their specialty.
8. Life cycle analysis is done throughout all investments in your life, home construction should not be an exception.
9. Internet, Internet, Internet.  Every smart consumer should have a Minor in Google.
10. Every large green program started from a small community organization.  Let your voice be heard.