Roadblocks Still Persist on the Road to Building Green

In many cases, homeowners looking to improve the energy efficiency and eco-friendliness of their current home by installing solar panels must have the measure approved by their local housing association. Some housing associations may find little aesthetic value in the solar panels and deny the installation of the devices, even though their practicality far outweighs the “look” of the neighborhood. Besides dealing with the housing association, eco-conscious homeowners may also have to contend with neighbors who may be ignorant about such devices and technology and take exception based on perceived negative impacts to their own property values. In the end, homeowners may find themselves on the road towards costly litigation.  This prospect alone can be highly discouraging, leading one to abandon the goal of increasing their home’s energy efficiency through the use of green power.

Existing homeowners aren’t the only ones who face challenges.  Those building a home from the ground up with the intention of using as much green technology as possible will have to deal with an outdated building code that may not accommodate or even allow the use of certain eco-friendly products.  In many cases the only recourse for having exceptions made for the use of greener products is facing a city council that may have little interest in stirring up the status quo just to accommodate the requests of a small though growing number of homeowners. To make matters worse, lack of knowledge about new technologies makes governments hesitant to adapt quickly and accept them.

While the “green” revolution is sweeping the nation and everyone knows that going green is supposed to be “good”, not everyone clearly understands the benefits of doing so. Going green is assumed to be expensive and done solely for the benefit of the environment.  Few understand the money that can be saved by producing less waste and using less water and electricity. 

Even in municipalities that promote greener building initiatives and improvements through local tax credits, incentives and utility rebates, the availability of these incentives may not be widely publicized and fully taken advantage of by all members of the community. Also, lack of federal renewal of the provisions related to home energy efficiency upgrades in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 certainly does not help encourage local municipalities, who also may be facing budget crunches, to extend further local energy efficiency incentives.

Unfortunately, the politicization of the climate change issues is limiting the ability to educate people about the impressive innovations and substantial economic benefits available to those who take advantage of greener practices. Until improvements are made in this field, the uptake of eco-friendly technology will be slow paced. Much of what we witness today is just talk and no action. Until steps are taken to educate the masses through advertising and mainstream media, our earth will continue to be overwhelmed by climate change, our quality of life will continue to decline, and our wallets will continue to empty at a faster pace.

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