Made greener in a fiactory near you

/'\vrn rHE LASr 30 years, the \-Zmanufacturins core of the United States has be-en dismantled piece by piece and shipped off to other countries. Looking for competitive advantage through leastcost labor, brand owners and manufacturers have gradually concentrated in China, which now accounts for a large proportion of product sold through this channel. Even commodity products are very likely to be sourced from China or other faraway places, and not without complications.

Has anyone forgotten the drywall controversy?

Low prices are good, or so market logic would dictate, but in a globalized economy there are unintended consequences. Economists have argued that the American middle class, made up of folks who save to buy a house or remodel the one they own, has been significantly diminished by the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs. This has had a devastating effect in hundreds of local economies that still struggle with high unemployment and underemployment. In addition, cheap goods and materials from abroad mav have other. hidden costs. Lower quality, for example, can slow productivity or require expensive remediation.

From a green point of' view. thcre's another unintcndccl consequence. Most imported goods and nratcrials will have rluch hi-sher erlbodied cnergy-in other words. a larger carbon fbotprint. Shipping goocls across thc ocean spews tons of carbon into the atniosphcrc. Morc irnportantly, a lirrei,sn llctory may get its energy from incfficient coalburning plants. So. befbrc the inrport is even shippccl. its carbon filotprint mav alreacly be vr'ilclly off the charls compared with a domcstically rnade altcrnative. There may be othcr envirrlnmental consequences, too. whcn f'uctol'ics iil'e locatcd in countries with f'ew saf'eguards in place against pol lution. clcfbrestation. etc.

Rcducing the ernbodied encfgy in buildings is the main motivator behind USGBC's LEED crcdit lur locally sourced goods and nraterials. This is good. but clocs it rnatter'l Is anything even rnade in this country anymore? Ycs and yes. Obviously. sourcing goods ancl materials close to the building sitc means lower cmbodiecl energy and lower amounts of carbon enritted to thc atmosplrerc. It also helps to support local busincsses and encourages builders to incorporate local matcrials. Lr.rn.rber. stone. strawbalc, cob-regional resource strengtl.rs will hclp recreatc rcgional builcling vcrnacular, too, providin_e a welconre break l-rom the honrogeneitl'of rnass honre production. Shortening the supply chain also clclivers strategic business benefits. such as less risk of disluption l}om ovcrscas events and, polcntialll'. nrore collaborativc relationships bctwecn rnanufacturer iincl clealer'.

And ycs. there are still plenty of products made in this collntry. A Montana bLrildcr madc news prorloting his l(X)7c Amcrican built housc (www.theallamelicanhome. corn). derronstratins that it can bc clone ancl with little extra cost. It also showecl that there's strong interest ll'on'r builders ancl prospcctive homeowncrs to source goods closer to honie. inlir(t

So, what's a good. green dcaler to clo'l Wolk with your distributors ancl manufucturers to identify wherc the products and matcrials arc made, thcn identify oppoltunities to makc somc cl'ranges. Shorten thc supply chain. Products madc closer to home arc better'()r "sreL-nL-r.' thcoretically, than those maclc f'arthcr away. For examplc. qualil'icd proclucts and materials nradc within 500 nriles of the jobsitc carn LEED cleclits.

Weigh the costs and benel-its wisely a toxic product rnadc ncxt door is always worsc than a grccn import firrnr Europe. Work with local rnanul'acturers to srecn up thcir product line. if necessary. In thc store, clcvelop signage that educates and informs your custorners about thc bcnefits ol'buying local or buying Amerrcan.

Finalll . rcsist the ternptltion to wavc thc l1ag. hut do niakc the case based on quality, econonrics and cnvironmcntal bcncfits. Thcrc's a stron-s onc to bc nradc.