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
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by: hugatree
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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. Many more Green political parties came into being notably in Europe and thus an institutional approach to the green movement was in place in Europe. Many of these Green parties formed part of coalition governments in Europe thus giving governmental support to green initiatives quite early on. The German government passed the green legislation tax, one of the first green initiatives in the world.
Now, nothing of that sort has happened in America. The Green movement in the nation has continued as an informal initiative with hardly any federal backing. 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. Consequently, over the years, Europeans have been building walls with the help of loam. Contributing to the conservation efforts is also possible by using recycled paper as insulation. Till very recently, Americans considered used bathing water as waste water; instead this is an invaluable resource to be used for landscaping. The US LEED initiative which aims at bringing green building into the mainstream is still not a federal law. One may look at the French initiative, to implement its local building green norms in the European Union, as a positive influence on the State.
For ages, Americans have built their houses with wood, a cheap and plentiful commodity. The swift expansion of the US construction industry raised import of wood and consequently the loss of substantial tropical rainforest areas. The real estate developers did not see it fit to consider the incalculable harm that was being done to the global environment. In contrast, forest conservation has been a priority with the European nations and this has resulted in them shifting to using quick rowing wood such as bamboo for construction purposes. Wonder why Europe has maintained an ample lead over the United States in building green.
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