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Re: GBlist:the excellence of European windows




>
>Europe is a bit farther ahead in trying to factor in the consequences of
>a products cost and cost of reuse and/or disposal over its life - and
>factoring that cost into the market cost of a product or service. Here
>that is simply a debt we have yet to pay. The market implication of this
>are far greater than longer term mortgages because of the extreme
>wastage involved in the underutilisation of any resource. Its difficult
>to recover what is lost.

The idea that Europe is 'further ahead' carries with it the same irony that
new highways and increasing suburbs represent 'progress' in this country.
And of course they are ahead because they have already depleted their tree
inventory sufficiently to appreciate what is left, that or as in the case of
the once magnificent forests of southern Germany, acid rain has devasted the
resource.  Of course the use of the word 'resource' is an indication of
where that thread leads.  From the tone of his message John is aware of
these ironies too.

Having just yesterday asked someone in this group if European windows are in
fact better than ours (or Canadian?) John has suggested they are, but are
also nearly unaffordable or at least that is the American perspective
(including mine I'm afraid); in Europe the result is, as John says:

>The overall higher cost of housing also reveals a greater investment in
>infrastructure. Better planning and design choices around land use,
>density, transportation, etc. And all of this results in a higher
>quality of life for the general pop. not just the property owners. An
>aspect of this is a less financially speculative market because the
>economics of ownership/investment have to be sustained over generations.

I might disagree with the 'higher quality of life' but it's a moot point.

>I get discouraged about my 'green' practice because so much of what I do
>is a juggling act balancing one unacceptable product or practice against
>another, trying to balance its effects and trying to cover it all in a
>budget that doesn't go far enough. It is nice to look at another country
>and at least pretend that what they are doing is more acceptable

It is discouraging, but home ownership in this country still is a dream that
can be realized by a far greater proportion of our society than is possible
in Europe where that dream is just as strong as it is here.  Look at it this
way, if one buys the best one can afford now and is able to 'upgrade' to
something better some years down the way, and if in the meantime we become
educated sufficiently to appreciate greener materials enough for these
products to become the majority of what is available (look what is happening
to windows as a good example), then we will all be better off for it.

For sure Europe isn't necessarily further ahead in their green attitude
because they are more sophisticated, but rather because there is absolutely
no alternative for them. 
Although of cours, again, it is arguable which would be a better place in
which to live, I prefer the greater choice we have here.

Interestingly if you look the other way, to Asia and specifically to Japan
where trees are equally unaffordable to Europe's, you see considerably
different construction practices and homes that have no longer life than
ours here in the States.

Sacie Lambertson

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