Green by design.

• Position: REAL estate

IT HAS TAKEN DECADES TO GET PAST THE OLD-school methods and standards in the construction industry where cost of construction materials often outweighs the long-term cost of energy needs. For example just 15 years ago few builders were willing to use a manufactured "I" joist made from recycled wood over lumber milled from trees if the cost was 20 percent more. Until the 1970s, cheap energy and relatively plentiful materials made even simple things like R-36 insulation an alien concept.

Prior to the mid 1950s, most homes had no insulation in the walls and little, if any, in the roof. Most furnaces sent the majority of the heat out the chimney flue instead of to interior living spaces. But as the first energy crisis wore on, and dwindling natural resources became a reality, rising demand for these energy saving materials drove down the costs leading to major changes in the building industry.

Then in 1993 a group of architects, builders and industry professionals formed the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and in March 2000, after several years of development, created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system that defines and puts a measurable quantity to design elements that make buildings more energy efficient, and use...