This is a slightly updated re-post of an a e-news article originally written in June 2009 by Brian J. Martin, Owner & Founder, of Master’s Craft Construction .  We felt the content was worthwhile to post on our blog as the topic of “Green” is alive and well in the building and remodeling industry these days.  Stay tuned over the next week for more posts from this article.

2009 Regional Contractor of the Year

For those who don’t already know, we were very pleased to be chosen the 2009 Regional Contractor of the Year for the Best Exterior under $100,000 for the Outdoor Living Room we Designed and Built in 2008 in North Wales.

You can view our project in our gallery and also in 2009  NARI CotY Showcase

Thoughts on Sustainability

If you are an ordinary person like me, you have undoubtedly heard or seen the word “green” or some variation of it multiple times in the last week.  I have always kind of wondered: “What is Green anyway?”

A couple of weeks ago I saw something humorous that caught my attention .  Lake Superior State University recently released its 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.  “The ubiquitous “Green” and all of its variables, such as “going green,” “building green,” “greening,” “green technology,” “green solutions” and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.”  I was gratified to read that there are other people out there who agree with me!!

I’m not sure about you, but I often grow weary of buzz words and marketing trends and those that jump on the latest marketing bandwagon.  The advertising industry has a way of taking a perfectly great idea and rendering it completely meaningless by using it to market nearly every conceivable product or service.  Green is one of the victims of this machine.  What is green anyway? The word  doesn’t really tell us anything, and yet seems to be attached to nearly every product, service provider, retailer, and manufacturer trying to sell something.  I really don’t like the word green simply because it is so broad and vague virtually any product or business can claim it.

A more helpful word in my estimation is “Sustainability”. Sustainability gives me something to grab hold of.  Sustainability  seems more measurable.  I recently heard someone speaking passionately about the need for us as adults to act responsibly NOW so that our kids and grandkids have a healthy environment in which to live. Think about it.  What will the earth be like in the year 2050 when I am 82 and my grandchildren are having their own children?  Are there decisions that we can make today that will help ensure that the earth is healthy then?  In other words, if we change nothing, are our lifestyles sustainable to the extent that we can all just keep living the way we are and expect that our children and grandchildren will be able to live the same way?  Or is our lifestyle such that at some undetermined point in the future, if we continue the present course, we will be forced to make drastic changes?  Kind of like General Motors .  GM had been declining for years, and there were danger signals along the way that went unheeded by many who preferred instead to pretend that the good times would never end.  In 2009, the once mighty automaker was forced into bankruptcy.

Will the same happen to us?  Are we paying attention to the danger signals of our lifestyles?

Stay tuned for more thoughts on “Moving Toward Sustainability” as it applies to building and remodeling in our next blog post.   Until then, we are Master’s Craft Construction, a Montgomery County, Bucks County Area Design Build and Remodeling firm serving the Suburban Philadelphia metro area.