Green Home Buildings ... Why The Europeans are Far Ahead | Advancements In Green Home Buildings ... Lessons From Europe | Green Home Buildings and the European Contribution | Is the US Catching Up to Europe in Building Green Homes? | Europe Vs The States

The Green home building initiative has its genesis in the Green Movement, which was in its heyday in the 1960s, especially among the Hippies. Thereafter, the Green movement evolved differently in the United States and Europe. The political authority of the green movement gained significantly with the institution of the German Green Party in 1970s. This gave rise to the creation of many more Green politics and following in Europe with an institutional role. Many of these Green parties formed part of coalition governments in Europe thus giving governmental support to green initiatives quite early on. A prime example is the green legislation tax passed in the late 1990s by the German government.
Now, nothing of that sort has happened in America. In this country, the Green movement has continued its march without any federal support. During the early years, building green homes was significantly more expensive than normal homes. The American building industry following the pragmatic capitalist line, sought to maximize profits unlike the European builders who had the pressure of the governments and influential NGOs to persevere building green.
One of the popular movements in Europe that has persisted over 30 years is termed Building Biology, and opines that traditional brick and mortar buildings with its ingredients of steel, concrete, plastic foams are unhealthy; it also recommends that naturally occurring local building materials are a better choice. The advocates of this philosophy suggest using loam for building walls. Contributing to the conservation efforts is also possible by using recycled paper as insulation. Used bathing water which was till late considered as waste by Americans, can be sensibly utilized for landscaping. The LEED norms in vogue in the United States are not legal regulations yet. The European proposal to unify all green norms under the French green building norms is a pertinent move that the government would do well to seriously consider.
For ages, Americans have built their houses with wood, a cheap and plentiful commodity. However, the housing boom in the Untied States led to increased import of timber and thus saw a rapid denuding of tropical rainforest. The US building industry continued to look for profits and overlooked any environmental concerns. The Europeans on the other had very early on understood the likely adverse impact on the environment and commenced forest plantation in their own countries as also using bamboo and other quick growing woods instead of tropical rainforest woods. Little surprise as to the reason Europeans seem far ahead in structuring green homes as against Americans.

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by: hugatree
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