talking business

by Emily Landes

According to a recent survey, there are three main reasons that people are interested in living in a green home: they care about the environment, they care about energy savings, and they care about their health and the health of their families. The first two reasons are compelling, but survey data also shows that they don’t have nearly the potential for profit as the third, argued Shyam Kannan, director of research and development for RCLCO, the company that administered the nationwide survey to determine just how much demand is out there for green home products and improvements.

Kannan was one of the featured speakers at West Coast Green, an annual four-day green building conference and expo that took place this year at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium at the end of September. He explained that while many people may say they want the green innovations being shown on the civic center floor and discussed in its numerous meeting rooms, few who have the means to pay extra for them are doing so. While there is a clear preference for green homes over nongreen homes, all things being equal, people are not willing to give up other assets like seclusion from neighbors or a better school district in order to get them. Potential homeowners are also not willing to wait years to get paid back for upgrades like solar panels. These upgrades have been a much easier sell to commercial owners, who typically plan to own their buildings for decades and will be more likely to see a return on their energy-saving investments.

That’s why Kannan suggested that green building marketers may want to target those who are interested in the healthy aspects of green products, which contain less of the harmful chemicals being offed by traditional products. The survey results show that good indoor air quality is at the top of the list of what homebuyers want in a home, and that the use of nonhazardous materials outranked assets like a large lawn, a finished basement and granite countertops as a desirable attribute for a new home. In fact, one in three buyers said they wanted a home that is better for their lungs. Most importantly, the survey results suggest that home buyers interested in health were willing to pay more for their green upgrades and that they didn’t have to be paid back for these improvements.

Kannan said the group of homebuyers motivated by health tended to be wealthy, highly educated and responded well to science-based marketing. It is also larger than the core group of ecoconsumers that currently makes up the bulk of the green home market. As to why this group doesn’t make up more of a market share today, Kannan posited, “Our hypothesis is that most folks don’t know that their homes are killing them.”

With the exception of a few low- and no-VOC paint and varnish companies, the marketing spin down on the floor of the trade show backed up Kannan’s assessment that green housing producers were still primarily pushing environmental and economic benefits, rather than health benefits. Joseph Pass, sales manager with Timber Tech, said that not only are his company’s composite decking and handrails made of 50% plastic and 50% reclaimed maple hardwood, but 100% of its waste can be recycled, as well as the water used in the manufacturing process. They also deliver direct from their Wilmington, Ohio factory to Bay Area locations like Pacifica Lumber and OK Lumber in San Carlos. By avoiding a middleman, the company feels it is further decreasing its carbon footprint, Pass explained.

The price is comparable to high-grade redwood or cedar decks, but unlike those all-wood versions, said Pass, his decking doesn’t need to be restained over and over again. The low-maintenance (and the increasing cost of lumber) is part of the reason Pass said Timber Tech’s volume is up 42% in Northern California this year: “Owners are realizing, ‘Hey, I can put something down that I don’t have to stain and seal every year. I just have to hose it off.’”

Green wood products were hot commodities at this year’s conference, from engineered hardwoods (made from pieces of young trees, rather than old growth) at Beronio Lumber to reclaimed woods (including old growth redwood from wine storage tanks, Douglas fir from gym bleachers and tropical hardwoods from telephone poles) at Terra Mai. Scott Agueros, owner of Marin Floor Company, said there’s “immense demand” for reclaimed wood flooring in his San Raphael store, as well as wood alternatives like cork and bamboo. He suggested that apartment owners should invest in these flooring options, which can last 15 to 20 years without much maintenance, rather than cheap, throwaway carpets that are easily stained and otherwise damaged by tenants. Not only do they cost less in the long run, he said, but the aesthetic improvement can’t be beat.

Many of the vendors at the show were on a mission to demonstrate that green design could also be great design. Light Concepts featured stylish indoor and outdoor fixtures that work with compact fluorescents, which last longer than standard light bulbs and consume far less energy. Heather Linkous, Light Concepts’s regional sales manager for the Western U.S., said fluorescents often get a bad rap because people remember the first and second generations of these products, which were bulky, took too long to turn on, emitted a high- pitched whine and, worst of all, released a universally unflattering and bleak light. “People think it’s a big white blob in the air, that flickers and hums,” she admitted.

But, she said, thanks to developments over the last few years, fluorescents are silent, stylish and can emit light in an array of colors. The company even has a detailed guide showing which kind of fluorescent is best in which room, from dimmer, warmer tones in living rooms and bedrooms, to brighter light in garages and basements.

West Coast Green featured not only improved green products, but also some completely new creations and innovations. The Aqus is a new invention that captures the water that goes down the drain of the bathroom sink, disinfects it, filters it, and reuses it in the toilet. In a bathroom used by two people, the contraption saves 4,000 to 6,000 gallons of fresh water each year, according to Tom Reynolds, president of WaterSaver Technologies, which created The Aqus.

“In a rental unit, where the occupant doesn’t have much incentive to save water, this does it automatically,” he said. The Aqus is $295 and takes about an hour and a half to install. In a multiunit building, the payback in sewer and water savings is quick and the system can be installed in any bathroom that has a sink and a toilet tank.

Dennis McCullah, owner of Odin’s Hammer in Berkeley, says the growing interest in creating new and improved products like those on display at West Coast Green makes his job as a green remodeler that much easier. At a standing room only lecture entitled, “Remodel It Green,” he extolled the benefits of many of the products being promoted at the show, like low-E glass, engineered lumber, blown-in cellulose insulation, solar panels and many, many more. “Our choices are expanding daily,” he commented.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or SF Apartment Magazine. Emily Landes is the managing editor of SF Apartment Magazine and Rental Housing. Copyright © 2007 by SF Apartment Magazine. All rights reserved.