Green New Construction Deal
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| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
There is movement in DC for a Green New Deal and concerns that the substance of legislation which primarily benefits urban areas such as investment in transit will not fly and leave middle American in the lurch. It occurred to me that federal investment in resilient construction (materials, methods and training would have broader appeal. What are your ideas/suggestions for a Green New Construction Deal?
Lisa
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Replies
The federal government doesn’t really make “investments”. It’s always bugged me when they say that too. What they do is mandate other people to do things, and they frequently have no idea what they’re talking about when they write these mandates.
I think it would be best for the existing professional organizations to manage building codes and the like. This will also allow things to be tailored to the requirements of specific localities and avoid a “one size fits all” type of “solution”. Northern and southern climates have different building requirements, for example. Seismic bracing is very important in California, but a complete waste in Michigan.
I don’t see a need for a “green new deal”, and from what I’ve seen of some of these proposals, it’s fairly obvious they people writing them are unfamiliar with the realities of construction.
What I would support would be someone like the NSF or DOE giving some grants out to research groups like the building science people to develope recommendations and test building assemblies such as those that are frequently discussed on this site. That would probably provide useful information that would be of benefit to those building efficient structures.
Bill