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comment Green Architect Michelle Kaufmann Calls for Sustainability “Nutrition” Labels
In a new white paper released last week Michelle Kaufmann Designs laid out the case for a comprehensive labeling system to boost consumer awareness of green residences. Michelle Kaufmann, known for her line of modular homes equipped with prepackaged sustainability features, wishes to adopt the labeling standards applied to food. Just as easily read nutritional labels have changed the way consumers buy food, green housing labels would heighten home buyers’ awareness of electricity use, carbon emission, and insulation efficiency among other factors.
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The proposed labels would make it simple for consumers who might not otherwise think about sustainability to compare the long-term cost benefits and environmental improvements of green residences. Such standard practice has been impeded in the past, claims Kaufmann, by the current proliferation of non-standard labels and classifications that make it difficult for homebuyers to compare benefits between two green houses. Labeling would also advance the cause of green building in general, with the standardization helping to educate designers and builders as consumers.
In regards to existing LEED building standards, Michelle Kaufmann says that “the USGBC's LEED for Homes certification program is vitally important to the green residential building industry and will one day be recognized by all Americans as the hallmark of a truly green home. Sustainability labeling could hasten that day by noting the distinction of LEED certification on a house's label if it has earned it. By doing so,
sustainability labeling would enhance LEED's value by increasing brand awareness.”
Kaufmann further cites that the current LEED for Homes standards target only “the top 25 percent of new homes with best practice environmental features,” and emphasizes that her sustainability labeling covers all homes. This will ideally allow for consumers to easily compare green houses with non-LEED residences and further the cause of sustainable home building.
