In the past few years, Green has become the ubiquitous marketing word to sell everything from cars to televisions. Growing public concern about localized pollution, the depleted ozone layer, ill health effects from poor air quality, and climate change have many companies tailoring their products (or just their advertising) to show consumers that they care, too. Additional concerns about rising energy costs and the threat to national security due to U.S. dependence on foreign oil have combined to push consumers and industry to look for a better way to improve our world for future generations.

Much attention has been paid to the automobile industry as a source of the problem. Higher CAFE standards, ethanol, fuel cells, all electric vehicles and other solutions are being explored to reduce imported fossil fuel consumption. However, automobiles are not the only significant sector affecting our dependence on foreign oil or on causing climate change.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, in the United States, buildings account for:

• 65% of electricity consumption,
• 36% of energy use,
• 30% of greenhouse gas emissions,
• 30% of raw materials use,
• 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually), and 12% of potable water consumption.
  
  

Businesses are well aware of the growing demand for sustainable, environmentally sensitive business products, services, and practices. While many businesses are taking positive steps, they are often overhyping those steps (or overtly making a specious claim) to appeal to their customers’ green desires. According to a report by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, over 99% of the products it surveyed committed at least one of its self-labeled “six sins of greenwashing." This business practice of setting unreasonable expectations tarnishes the “green” label, making the public cynical about any claim of environmental stewardship by a product manufacturer.

The homebuilding industry has dozens of organizations that are attempting to define green building. ENERGY STAR is a joint program by the Department of Energy and the EPA to promote energy efficient products. While most consumers recognize the ENERGY STAR label on appliances and electronic goods, the program also applies to the energy efficiency of homes. The program established a measurable performance standard for energy efficiency (the Home Energy Rating System - HERS), providing a yardstick to compare the green claims by competing homebuilders. Just as a customer can go to an appliance store and compare the energy usage costs of a refrigerator or dishwasher by looking at the ENERGY STAR label, homebuyers can compare energy usage for those homes that are constructed by builders who participate in the ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR also promotes the use of Energy Efficient Mortgages that recognize the utility cost savings associated with energy efficient homes, thus allowing borrowers access to better rates and/or a higher priced home.

In addition to establishing the ENERGY STAR program for new homes, ENERGY STAR has worked in conjunction with some state governments to promote home performance programs for existing houses. Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR is one such program. This program trains, certifies and conducts quality assurance for contractors performing home energy audits. In contrast to the new home ENERGY STAR program that can determine if a home is "ENERGY STAR qualified," the home performance programs do not "qualify" or "certify" a home, but rather acknowledge that contractors have been certified to perform such work.

However, energy efficiency is only one facet of green building practices. In addition to energy usage, green homes should be durable, use resource efficient and sustainable materials, reduce waste during construction and operation, reduce water usage, manage stormwater runoff, reduce other negative effects on the local and global environment, and promote livable communities. The U.S. Green Building Council created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program to establish a group of metrics to measure how green a building is. While much of the LEED history has focused on commercial building, the USGBC recently launched its LEED for Homes program. This program integrates ENERGY STAR as a prerequisite for certification as a LEED home. The LEED system gradates the “green” features of the home by having different levels of certification - “certified”, “silver”, “gold”, and “platinum”.