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The Green Movement, popular with the Hippies in the early 60s was the precursor for the present interest in building Green homes. Thereafter, the Green movement evolved differently in the United States and Europe. The political authority of the green movement gained significantly with the institution of the German Green Party in 1970s. Many more Green political parties came into being notably in Europe and thus an institutional approach to the green movement was in place in Europe. Many of these Green parties formed part of coalition governments in Europe thus giving governmental support to green initiatives quite early on. The German government passed the green legislation tax, one of the first green initiatives in the world.
Now, nothing of that sort has happened in America. In this country, the Green movement has continued its march without any federal support. Initially, building green homes was much more costly to build than regular houses. American construction companies, sans the governmental pressures faced by their European counterparts, sought only to augment their profits rather than build green.
Building Biology is a well recognized 30 year old movement in Europe, and the main argument forwarded by its proponents is that indigenously available materials are healthier than concrete, steel and plastic foam construction material. The advocates of this philosophy suggest using loam for building walls. For insulation, recycled newspaper is a prudent choice. Till very recently, Americans considered used bathing water as waste water; instead this is an invaluable resource to be used for landscaping. The LEED norms in vogue in the United States are not legal regulations yet. One may look at the French initiative, to implement its local building green norms in the European Union, as a positive influence on the State.
For ages, Americans have built their houses with wood, a cheap and plentiful commodity. However, the housing boom in the Untied States led to increased import of timber and thus saw a rapid denuding of tropical rainforest. The US building industry continued to look for profits and overlooked any environmental concerns. The Europeans on the other had very early on understood the likely adverse impact on the environment and commenced forest plantation in their own countries as also using bamboo and other quick growing woods instead of tropical rainforest woods. Wonder why Europe has maintained an ample lead over the United States in building green.
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