I don’t like Greenwashing. Before anyone gets excited and agrees, let me clarify. I don’t like the term “Greenwashing.” We’re at a point where the green building industry is expanding rapidly, and good, clear information can be hard to find. Does it really help to presume that manufacturers and service providers are hiding behind trees waiting to jump out and dupe the rest of us with bad information? While I agree that false or misleading claims are not ok, I don’t think this perspective is true or helpful.
Buyers are confused and want better information. But so do manufacturers and service providers. They don’t have credible and affordable ways to reach out, and they aren’t always sure what information is required, which vendor to work with, or what method might be best for finding target clients. Many are also small companies that can’t pay or make the time to apply for the latest and greatest or every certification.
I created an online resource called Rate It Green (www.rateitgreen.com) years ago when I could not find the information I needed. Rate It Green is a directory, peer review resource and online community for the green building industry. I went through a green building learning experience where I struggled to source materials effectively, and I just wanted advice from people who had “been there” and could share some of what they knew. My idea was to help increase the amount and availability of green building information. I am still building this resource, and I am eager to add social networking to create the most robust conversations and content. But this is just one piece of a wider information puzzle.
Advertising materials made up the bulk of green building information when I first created Rate It Green. But today, federal, state, and local regulation have proliferated, Rate It Green is now one of perhaps 50 related online resources, and certification and labeling programs have grown rapidly. Some report that there are over 400 labeling and certification organizations, and my company counts over 1,000 green building information resources in our information resource guide. The FTC is working on revising the agency’s Green Guides, and I hear that Congress is considering Eco-Labeling legislation as well. So, with a veritable flood of information, how do you navigate, who can you trust, and how do you even know what to fairly claim as a manufacturer or service provider? The answer is unfortunately that you often don’t know.
Back in 2007, I attended a meeting at the EPA’s Chicago offices where a group of industry participants discussed what a sustainable information infrastructure might look like. This meeting produced so much excitement and hope. We talked about how to drive market change while remaining open and fair to a variety of constituents, and we discussed how regulations might fit together with certifications and labels.
I was surprised to attend a follow up meeting this year around a similar topic. How had so much time gone by? This was a meeting hosted in May by the EPA, Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and GreenBlue to see if it would be advisable to establish a Green Building Products Coalition. At this meeting, companies and information providers expressed their concerns. Potential challenges included the number of certifications and labels, the changing nature of information and how to educate buyers, the fuzziness of certain measurements, and the lack of funding for an organization that might be able to help. Companies were clear that their budgets were stretched. So how do we reach consensus, who makes the rules, and how can such an effort be funded?
I believe there is a call for an organizing body or coalition to organize information across the green building industry and offer advice to industry members. And that means the creation and funding of a consensus-based body to provide information and services to companies so they can navigate better and provide better and more organized information. A first step would be to identify the stakeholders in such an effort and invite them all to the table. Next, we need to map out the current space and work to agree on the best environmental and economic outcomes. And finally, the industry needs a real action plan to organize and distribute information more effectively.
If we can create better information and resources for both buyers and sellers, perhaps we can reduce misinformation and the use of negative terms like greenwashing. We can also let companies get back to focusing on what they should: providing the best green building products and services. I look forward to working with anyone who wants to be part of the solution.
Allison Friedman is Founder of Rate It Green