Why Green Building Needs to be About Energy Efficiency and Not "Green" Gadgets

In my previous post, I made the remark that many "green-building" projects and practitioners focus entirely too much on so-called green products, green gadgets and even on-site energy generation (e.g. PV or other).

An excellent case for why green building needs to focus primary on energy efficiency is presented in John Straube of Building Science Corporation's article entitled: Why Energy Matters.

In this article, they show how 85% to 95% of a building's "environmental harm" over a 50-year period comes from the energy used by the building during its operation. The environmental impact / embodied energy of the building materials is only a very small portion of the total environmental footprint of the building.

Check it out, an enlightening read for anyone interested in Green Building and Sustainability.