Greenwashing in Architecture & the Construction Industry

Greenwashing was coined in the eighties as a way to describe the specious and unjust environmental claims made by large-scale corporations attempting to market themselves as environmentally concerned. Since then, greenwashing has become far more complex, and companies spend millions distracting their customers with a minor environmental ‘good deed’, such as recycling plastic, whilst the bulk of their business remains harmful to the environment. *Bottled water companies, for example, may market their water as ‘Organic’ or claim to be eco because their bottles use 3% plastic, when in reality all plastic water bottle waste is extremely polluting to ocean and terrestrial environments.  

Additionally, the internet, populated by a myriad of claims and counterclaims, is often of little help when attempting to make informed decisions. Though we have never had so much information at our disposal, it has become more difficult to use this information in a meaningful way. 

The building industry is not exempt from Greenwashing. Heck, it even seems to be a front runner in vague and incorrect information around the sustainability and environmental impact of building materials. In a recent example, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH) in Heyfield were found to be implicated in the illegal logging of old-growth areas and subsequently cut off from Bunning’s supply chains. 

Clients, designers and builders share confusion around the sustainable and environmental efforts of companies, the impact of their materials and products, and the implications of designing and constructing a sustainable house with low environmental impact.

Solar Panels at our Sunny Passivhaus, Melbourne’s Inner North

The good news is that there are peer-reviewed, reliable frameworks that help navigate this confusion and make decisions based on the given context; the needs of the client; the total embodied energy of the construction; and the performance of the design and build. As designers, we are continuously researching the properties of construction materials and design and construction techniques to make calculated decisions on how to lower the environmental impact of your house.

“The word ‘sustainable’ is another of those words - like ‘gourmet’ and ‘adventure’ - that have been so overused and misused as to become meaningless.” - Yvon Chouinard 

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/aug/20/greenwashing-environmentalism-lies-companies

We had a chat about the overuse of the word ‘sustainable’ with our mates at Homely. Read more here.