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Zogol.com » Reference-and-education » Environmental » Green Home Buildings ... Why The Europeans are Far Ahead | Advancements In Green Home Buildings ... Lessons From Europe | Green Home Buildings and the European Contribution | Is the US Catching Up to Europe in Building Green Homes? | Europe Vs The States

Green Home Buildings ... Why The Europeans are Far Ahead | Advancements In Green Home Buildings ... Lessons From Europe | Green Home Buildings and the European Contribution | Is the US Catching Up to Europe in Building Green Homes? | Europe Vs The States

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by: hugatree
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Word Count: 435

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. In the 1970s, the Green Movement gained political credibility with the establishment of the Green Party in Germany. 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. A prime example is the green legislation tax passed in the late 1990s by the German government.
Now, nothing of that sort has happened in America. In this country, the Green movement has continued its march without any federal support. During the early years, building green homes was significantly more expensive than normal homes. 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. Consequently, over the years, Europeans have been building walls with the help of loam. Contributing to the conservation efforts is also possible by using recycled paper as insulation. Used bathing water which was till late considered as waste by Americans, can be sensibly utilized for landscaping. The US LEED initiative which aims at bringing green building into the mainstream is still not a federal law. 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. The swift expansion of the US construction industry raised import of wood and consequently the loss of substantial tropical rainforest areas. The real estate developers did not see it fit to consider the incalculable harm that was being done to the global environment. In contrast, forest conservation has been a priority with the European nations and this has resulted in them shifting to using quick rowing wood such as bamboo for construction purposes. Wonder why Europe has maintained an ample lead over the United States in building green.

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More information on green home plans, visit www.greenhomeguide.org.


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