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How green is green enough? (Or, you can't please everybody, part II)
comments (0) April 10th, 2008 in Blogs
Kevin Ireton, editor-at-large
no recommendations
“Hi Folks,
For what it's worth, I'm a charter subscriber and have saved every copy of Fine Homebuilding. The back issues are in my
shop, yellowing along with Whole
Earth Review, Solar Age, et. al. Interesting to watch me, you,
and the real world change over half a working lifetime.
Ultimately, I will let my subscription expire because you aren't green enough.
I'm tired of 5000-sq.-ft. homes and wasteful industrial processes that claim to
be green and are anything but, and ridiculous nonfunctional materials
(countertop of the month) chosen only for style. You follow the herd—only green
enough to not offend—rather than leading the way. Perhaps that's your economic
reality, but my economic reality is supporting organizations that endorse a
more sensible set of priorities, like the
full spirit of LEED (small is beautiful), not builder-driven faux-green. With
luck, as the world changes, you'll change fast enough to survive and prosper.
Thanks,
Bob…”
Dear Bob,
I've been an editor here at Fine Homebuilding since 1986, which means that you've been helping to pay my salary for a long
time, and I thank you for that. I also thank you for writing to explain why you
won't be renewing your subscription. Still, it pains me to lose a charter
subscriber, and while I don't imagine I can change your mind, I can't help but
defend the magazine just a bit.
Perhaps if you had simply said that Fine
Homebuilding isn't green enough, I could not have argued.
I don't think any person, group, or company can defend the claim that they are
green enough. None of us is. We've all got to do better.
But it has been a long time since we've published a 5000-sq.-ft. house. Last year's Houses issue, for instance, had six
houses at 2500 sq. ft. or less and included an eight-page article on designing small houses. I'd sure like to know
what magazine is publishing more small houses than we are.
I also don't think it's true that we're following the herd. If you look back at
some of those old issues on your shelf, you'll see that Fine
Homebuilding has promoted small homes, quality detailing,
environmental responsibility, and energy efficiency for a long time. We
published the Amory Lovins essay "If it's not energy efficient, it's not beautiful" way back in
1991.
The final point I'd like to make is that we also get letters (and emails) from
readers who are canceling their subscriptions because we are too green. In some
ways, it hurts even more to lose these readers because they're the ones whose
minds I would like to change. If we are too conservative in our green stance,
it's because we want to keep the naysayers reading so that we can convert them.
I'm sorry to go on so long, but you've definitely hit me where it hurts.
All the best,
Kevin Ireton, editor, Fine Homebuilding
posted in: Blogs
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About this blog
As the editor of Fine Homebuilding, I spend my weekdays trying to produce a magazine that will satisfy 300,000 of the most demanding builders, both professional and amateur. As the owner of a 200-year old Cape in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills, I spend weekends working on my house.
Each activity invariably informs, and complicates, the other. In this blog, I’ll offer observations from both worlds -- publishing and building -- with the hope of providing some useful or at least entertaining insights.
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