What exactly is green building?

There are numerous shades of green in this growing field. Euphemistically, you could have a spring green shade of green – say a couple of trees covering a sunny window. Or you could go hunter green, with window tinting, shades, special insulation, Xeriscape, solar.

In Scottsdale, one of the country’s most aggressive green cities, there are 135 options for green building, according to the Green Building Program Manager Anthony Floyd.

“This is a menu, so to speak, of options you have to go green,” Floyd said. “These are not requirements. They are choices.”

The rest of the Valley is lagging far behind Scottsdale, although most cities and towns are working their way toward a green building program.

Fountain Hills recently implemented a low water usage policy. The low-water landscaping ordinance went into effect in January.

The ordinance requires that landscaping for all new construction feature low-water use plants and watering systems, and encourages residents and businesses to transition to low water plants when replacing existing vegetation. While low-water plants are not required for currently landscaped properties, existing properties must comply with the ordinance if more than 50 percent or 1,000 or more square feet of the property are re-landscaped

A grassroots level solar energy group is moving forward in Fountain Hills, and several builders have begun to utilize green materials and practices in their projects.

“Things are definitely progressing throughout the country,” Floyd said. “It varies from state to state, city to city, but progress is happening.”

Floyd attributes the increase in interest in environmental issues to greater public awareness.

“There has long been a perception that green building is more expensive than traditional building,” he said. “This is not really the case.”

With demand growing, material costs are decreasing. Attitudes also are changing about “going green.”

“It isn’t something that a bunch of hippies are doing,” said Leah Bushman, director of the Fountain Hills subchapter of the Arizona Solar Energy Association.

“This isn’t a matter of living off the land,” Bushman said. “These principles are based on long-term economic impacts. In the long run, being green will be the standard.”

There is no national standard for green building, said Floyd, but there is some movement in that direction. The National Association of Home Builders, as well as the United States Green Building Council are creating guidelines that could be adopted by cities and towns.

“These are standards that can be translated into (building) codes,” Floyd said. “Of course, there is positioning going on at the moment, so setting these standards will take a little while, but there is some progress.”

In 2005, the City of Scottsdale became the first city in the country to adopt a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Policy. The policy requires all new, occupied city buildings, of any size, be designed, contracted and built to achieve certification in the Program at the Gold certification level. In addition, all future renovations and non-occupied city buildings will be designed, contracted and built to include as many principles of both the LEED program and the City's Green Building Program where feasible.

A greater acceptance of green building by the public is helping drive the progress.

“People are wanting to go green,” Floyd said. “When something hits the consumer market, things begin to change more rapidly. That is what is happening now.”

Floyd said there is no one “magic bullet” to solidify green building programs throughout the country.

“There are so many variables, and so many opinions,” he said. “But we are getting to a point where people are agreeing that this is a good way to go. It isn’t an unusual idea, or something only the wealthy can do. It is becoming something that we all can relate to.”