Green Build: Environmental Life Cycle Declarations Ready for Use
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona 
on 11. 9.07
We couldn’t make it to the annual GreenBuild conference and expo in Chicago this year, but it looks like it is and probably was a great session. Including a panel dicussion on one of our favourite topics: environmental life cycle declarations. You know - those declarations that tell you the environmental impacts of a product, like a building material, over its life time (i.e. from the extraction of raw materials to the end-of-life waste management. They base the info on ISO 14040 life cycle assessment studies and are a great way of helping consumers be better informed about what they are purchasing and putting in their homes. Did any of you make it to this event? Please give us your thoughts below. Via: Scientific Certification Systems
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The link is broken above. Here's the link to the announcement: http://www.scscertified.com/aboutSCS/docs/DemystifyingSustGreenbuildPR1107.pdf
I just returned from Green Build where I was amazed by three things:
(1) the number of people -- it was insanely crowded and fun to see so many folks so interested in green building
(2) the quality of the information sessions -- there were lots of great sessions
(3) the volume of greenwashing -- all sorts of vendors were making unqualified 'green' claims touting the environmental superiority of their products without offering any evidence.
I have come to expect greenwashing at other events, but I thought Green Build would be different. I actually thought that the additional interest and expertise in green at Green Build would help stifle greenwashing. Instead, it seems to have attracted it. Very disappointing.
If folks are interested, TerraChoice is releasing a report called "The Six Sins of Greenwashing" within the next week or so. It outlines a variety of greenwashing strategies and suggestions for avoiding being fooled. It looks like folks should review it before the next Green Build conference.
RE: Greenwashing...
My favorites were companies selling vinyl products and claiming they were green because they were alternatives to using 'natural' sources of wood and stone, therefore not using any natural resources. Uhhhh, OK.