Pros and Cons of Alternative Construction and Design
What do you mean I can’t do that? What do you mean it’s too weird for approvals and financing? These are things you won’t want to hear when you move towards building your home. Consider what might happen and be prepared so you can find your way through the red tape.
There are obviously a lot of advantages to building green, but what about disadvantages? Is it possible that your green design choices could actually cause you problems? In general, no; however, there are some drawbacks to designing green homes. Let’s take a look at how things might unfold for you through the process of designing and building green.
As mentioned above, there is the chance your plans to build green could be seen as strange by a local bank or building department. This would not be the first time this has happened. Keep in mind that the building industry is very set in its ways and does not like risk. Fear not, there are ways around such hurdles. Knowledge is the greatest weapon in the fight to open someone’s eyes. The more you know and the more you educate the people around you, the less crazy you will look. Be sure to fully understand the system you are designing and be able to explain it, in simple and straightforward terms, to people around you. Practice with family members or skeptical friends before you go to the bank or building department. Their feedback will help you improve your presentation and your chances for approvals.
The desire to avoid risk pervades the entire building industry. It starts in the financing zone, exists in the building departments, and is in full swing in the contracting business. Consider that as a contractor, you are on the hook for the performance of the structure you build. Now consider hiring a contractor to work on your home, perhaps a painting contractor. You tell him you want to use a zero VOC paint that is made from milk casein. He looks at you like your crazy and asks if you really want him to paint your house with milk. He is probably not going to be terribly excited about the idea of giving you his standard one-year warranty on his work since he has no idea what the material is that he will be using.
As you can see in the example, you may run into trouble with subcontractors wanting to risk their name on your project. Even if you try to educate them, many will not want to hear it. Many simply will not take the risk. Others will. You need to find the right people for the job. Even with those people on site, you can still run into problems. Sometimes the design itself, although green and healthy, can actually cause problems moving forward.
The design of your home is one that incorporates a lot of direct and indirect sunlight. You have a passive solar design, which allows for the sun to penetrate the windows and heat the thermal mass in your home during the winter months. In the summer months, indirect light from Northern windows provides natural light in the home without overheating your space. Sounds great right? It is; however, did you stop to consider what the affect of all that extra light is on your furniture? How about on your artwork? The extra sunlight can have a fading effect on your furnishings, artwork, paint, and more. It can directly shorten the lifespan of some of your interior furnishings, or at least their finishes. Is it a price worth paying for free heating? Maybe, but you’ll want to decide that in advance and then take steps to mediate the impacts. Once again, if you know what to prepare for, you can make some minor changes to improve the overall quality of your home.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when you build a home. From the impacts on the building department and loan officers to your favorite lounge chair. Try to open your eyes and mind to all of the potential impacts. Here’s a simple list of the pros and cons to designing and building green. The list is probably a short taste of the potential pros and cons, but that will vary from design to design.
| PROS | CONS |
| Lower energy costs | Potential difficulty with mortgage brokers |
| Improved indoor air quality | Potential difficulty with building officials |
| Easier long-term maintenance | Potential difficulty with subcontractors |
| Increased re-sale value | Some materials may be special order items |
| Long-term economic performance is improved | Natural heating and cooling is not “dial to specific temperature” accurate |
| Reduces your impact on the planet | Higher up-front construction costs |
| Supports fair trade laws | Neighbors may not like the look of your home |
| Lower cost of the home over the life of the home (Lifecycle Costs) | You’ll need to think more! Consider above examples |
| Take advantage of tax incentives and rebates | |
| Be an inspiration to people around you |
I am a firm believer in the need for our entire construction industry to go green. There may be some cons to building green, but in my opinion, there are more cons to staying with our conventional habits. We are beyond the time to take action. That time came and went years ago. As a result, we are paying for our mistakes and our children will pay an even more serious price. Call it preachy, but we need to wake up. We cannot continue to build homes with showers that run 80 gallons of water down the drain PER MINUTE. Not when more than 14,000 people die everyday because they cannot access clean water. If we don’t learn these lessons soon we won’t be around to try and make the change. Building green is a start along the path. It is a small step to take in hopes of reversing the deadly trend we, as a planet, are on.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Morrison is the co-founder of Straw Bale Innovations, LLC, a company specializing in straw bale construction education and the proprietor of www.StrawBale.com. Andrew has a passion for straw bale construction that is matched only by his desire to teach his knowledge to others. For over 15 years, Andrew was a skilled, licensed general contractor with experience in designing and building both conventional and straw bale homes. In 2007 Andrew closed his contracting company to focus entirely on teaching workshops and consulting. You can learn more about his workshops at www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com and his consulting services at www.StrawBaleConsulting.com. Andrew received a BA degree from Hampshire College in 1995 for Glacial Geology. He also has a degree in construction technology form the College of the Redwoods.
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