The Outlook
August 2008

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W e l c o m e

This month we introduce The Green Doctor!  If you have questions about "green" - you can find answers by asking the Green Doctor! 

Also, for information about green building, we offer summaries of some of the leading programs, and our report evaluates the environmental performance of cement.

Enjoy!

- Jeff   

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I n   T h i s   I s s u e:

D o v e t a i l    N e w s:

Got Questions About Green? Ask the Green Doctor!
Dovetail Partners Offers New Resource for Finding Environmental Answers

S u m m a r i e s:

Green Building Introductions

R e p o r t s:

Portland Cement as a Construction Material
How Does It Compare to Wood, Steel?

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D o v e t a i l    N e w s:

Got Questions About Green? Ask the Green Doctor!
Dovetail Partners Offers New Resource for Finding Environmental Answers

(Mpls, MN) - How can I cool my home without turning on the air conditioner? Why should my company look into certification? What are some basic rules-of-thumb for choosing green products?

If you have questions about “green,” there is a new tool for finding answers. Dr. Jeff Howe - The Green Doctor, is in!

With a Ph.D. in green business and more than 35 years of experience with nearly every aspect of green, Dr. Howe really is The Green Doctor.

“I've done it all - from green building to green retail - and I've been a life-long environmentally-conscious consumer who has tested and re-tested every new product and green innovation I can find,” says Howe, The Green Doctor and founder of Dovetail Partners, a Minneapolis-based non-profit.

Dovetail Partners has launched the new service “Ask the Green Doctor?” to help people find answers to their environmental questions.

“Everyone has questions about green and is looking for a way to find quick, high-quality answers from someone who really knows their stuff and has the expertise to back it up,” says Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director for Dovetail Partners.

Through the Dovetail website and the Green Doctor email address (greendoctor@dovetailinc.org), visitors can submit questions and get answers quickly and personally. Summaries of recent questions and answers are also available at the website (www.askthegreendoctor.org).

“Environmental choices can seem complex whether you're trying to make decisions for your family or for a Fortune 500 company, and I should know, since I've been making green decisions in both of these arenas for more than 30 years,” says Howe.

For more information, visit:

http://www.askthegreendoctor.org

S u m m a r i e s:

Green Building Introductions

These brief summaries were compiled by Dovetail Partners to provide an introduction to some of the leading green building programs. Special Thanks to Dovetail Intern Anna Jacobson!

Green Building Introduction: BREEAM (120 kb, pdf)

Green Building Introduction: BuiltGreen (112 kb, pdf)

Green Building Introduction: Green Globes (120 kb, pdf)

Green Building Introduction: GreenBuilt Home (484 kb, pdf)

Green Building Introduction: LEED (132 kb, pdf)

To download the full set of summaries, click here (604 kb, pdf)

For more information:
http://www.dovetailinc.org/standards.html

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D o v e t a i l   R e p o r t s

All reports are available online.

Portland Cement as a Construction Material
How Does It Compare to Wood, Steel?

Jim Bowyer

The possibilities of concrete construction have captured the imagination of an increasing portion of the residential construction and home-buying public in recent years. With interest driven primarily by devastating impacts of hurricanes in the southeastern U.S., and forest fires in California, the use of concrete for residential construction of above-grade walls has grown substantially in the United States over the past fifteen years.  

The overall market share of concrete construction in new single-family detached housing, in the form of concrete block, cast-in-place systems, pre-cast concrete, or insulated concrete forms (ICF), rose every year from 1993 through 2005, increasing from less than 0.1 percent of the market in 1993 to 17.9 percent in 2005 – spectacular growth by any measure.  

However, recent steep declines in home building activity in the two largest concrete construction markets – Florida and California – and rising raw material costs relative to competing materials have led to a drop in the overall concrete home market share. From the 17.9 percent of above-grade walls attained in 2005, market share declined to 14.4 percent in 2007.   Insulated concrete form (ICF) construction has also seen market fluctuation, from a 0.7 percent market share in 1997, ICF construction grew to 4.7 percent in 2006, and then declined slightly in 2007 to 4.5 percent of the residential market (ICF Builder 2008).   Even with these adjustments, concrete construction in the residential market remains quite substantial compared to a decade ago.

Today, concrete construction of residential homes is being promoted as environmentally advantageous to alternative forms of construction.   Claimed advantages of concrete include an ability to recycle and to incorporate recycled content, high durability, and superior energy efficiency of some concrete construction systems.   This article examines the science behind these and other claims.

http://www.dovetailinc.org/reports/pdf/DovetailConcrete0808zb.pdf

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Questions?  Call Dovetail at 612-333-0430