Tampa, Florida New Home Builder Southern Crafted Homes

Things aren’t always as they seem and when it comes to Green products this is true more often than not. Manufacturers claims are often ambiguous and down right confusing. Advertising is even worse. I mean seriously when the airlines and auto makers jumped on the Green bandwagon it should have been a clue. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to define what makes a product green, to educate consumers, and to provide them the resources to independently determine the truth behind these green claims.  Ultimately you must trust the source of your information and knowing where and how to independently verify that information will bring greater piece of mind.

Green products combine the elements of design, site, energy, water, health, resource management and environemental considerations to ensure the highest levels of sustainability. While many products call themselves green, most have simply picked from a checklist those elements that they can claim without truly complying with all of the required elements. To that end those products are simply closer to being green than non-green products.  If the manufacturer can’t substantiate their claims through documentation and certificaiton they are “Green Washing” and at some point there are going to be legal repercussions for this from the federal government.  It should also be mentioned that just because a company produces a certificate or document it doesn’t make it green. The certificate or document must be from a recognized verifier or certifier.

Here are some clues:

1) LEED, NAHB and FGBC do not certify products. If the manufacturer claims the product is certified by them it is a false claim.

2) Does the manufacturer only point to one element of green? That’s a clue. If they are only focused on one element then more than likely there is a part of the product that is not environmentally friendly. Green is about sustainability. Sustainability incorporates many elements not just one or two.

 3) Can the claim be verified on line or through other documentation. If they can’t prove it it probably isn’t so.  Remember these claims are made directly by the party who creates or sells the product. There’s a chance it may be biased. Second party certifications aren’t much better since second parties have some vested interest, typically financial in the claim. For example a builder claiming a product in their home is green. It makes their home look better so it is in their interest to jump on the claim bandwagon.

The only claim that carries true value is a third party certification. It’s the highest level of assurance because the certifier has no vested interest in the product or the company. And when you are still not sure of a certification look to ever more stringent standards such as standard creation bodies such as ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization). These guys certify the certifiers. In homebuilding there are three standards that are acceptable: FGBC (Florida Green Building Coalition) USGBC LEED (United States Green Building Coalition LEED), and NAHB Green Standard (National Association of Home Builders Green Standard). Again none of these organizations certify products but they do certify the homes and those homes must meet strict standards of sustainability.

All homes built by Southern Crafted Homes are certified to the Environmental Protection Agencies Energy Star standard by a third party and to FGBC Green standards by a third party.

                                    Visit Southern Crafted Homes at www.southerncraftedhomes.com to learn more.