The Village of Homer Glen, a Chicago suburb, recently held a meeting to sell “green building” to local builders.
The local news article covering the event was titled, “Going green could equal more green for builders” — a title that ought to given you an idea of who the only beneficiaries of green building are. The article reported,
Homes built with “green” and energy-efficient products are more likely to receive LEED certification and thus become more attractive to potential buyers, Homer Glen Chief Building Official Steve Wydeveld told roughly 30 builders at the meeting.
“It might cost a little more money to [use energy-saving products and have your home] become LEED certified, but I really think buyers look at efficiency when choosing a home,” Wydeveld said. “Down the road you will be saving them money and helping the environment.”
But there’s really no evidence that green building saves money on any sort of reasonable time scale. There’s also no evidence that green building helps the environment in any meaningful way.
The only thing that’s not illusory about “green” building is that it is just another marketing scam.
Steve Milloy’s new book Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them discusses how green is all pain and no gain.
Green Hell Blog 
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