'Green' cars, buildings good for environment — and consumers

Green innovations in the construction and automotive industries are challenging consumers' notion of "high performance." Architects and contractors have long referred to environmentally responsible buildings as "high performance," but now the latest generation of Japanese gas-electric hybrid vehicles is making inroads there, as well.

When people first hear the term "high performance," buildings rarely come to mind, let alone green ones. When I mention green buildings or homes to my students, many say they think of the bamboo huts from "Gilligan's Island." I explain to them, however, that, in reality, green buildings typically look like traditional buildings but are high-tech structures designed for energy and resource efficiency and quality of living.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Sustainable Development, buildings consume 40 percent of the world's total energy, 25 percent of its wood harvest and 16 percent of its water. Green buildings are engineered to drastically reduce the energy and resources necessary to build and occupy them. As the scarcity and cost of energy and resources rise with the booming development of China and India, many architects and builders recognize that we simply can't continue to build as wastefully as we do today. Employing passive solar heating, wind-driven ventilation systems, electrochromic windows that automatically lighten or darken to control incoming outdoor light and heat, and other smart innovations that work in harmony with nature can enhance the overall comfort of a building. Moreover, they minimize the need for expensive air conditioning or heating. Given the 50- to 75-year life of a typical building, green features can substantially reduce a building's operational costs to owners and the environment.

Integrating comfort and efficiency makes green buildings "high performance," and one of the best local examples is the Utah House at the Utah Botanical Center in Kaysville (see extension.usu.edu/ cooperative/utahhouse).

In the automobile industry, by contrast, high performance has had a radically different connotation -- the gas-guzzling sports car. Many of my students are quick to point out that green gas-electric hybrid vehicles really can't be called high performance in the same way as high-tech green buildings. Sure, hybrids offer great fuel economy (Toyota's hot-selling Prius gets about 50 miles per gallon), but they are conspicuously frugal-looking and underpowered -- until now.

The latest Japanese hybrids are shattering the hybrid stereotype. Not only do they look like conventional cars, but they outdo their gas-only siblings in both performance and fuel economy. Toyota's Lexus RX 400h hybrid sport-utility vehicle is based on the popular RX 330. It combines, however, the RX 330's 3.3 liter V-6 engine with three electric motors, resulting in 30 more horsepower over the RX 330 and a split-second quicker acceleration from zero to 60 miles per hour. While the extra pep may not seem like much, it's all the sweeter, given that the RX400h achieves 67 percent better gas mileage over the RX 330 in the the city and 8 percent more on the highway! Likewise, Honda's elegant new hybrid Accord offers improved power, zip and fuel economy over the gas-only version.

In sum, the newest hybrids offer better performance with the convenience of fewer stops at the pump compared to their gas-only siblings. Future hybrids will only improve on this duel benefit. Some analysts say hybrids aren't worth their higher prices, typically $3,000 more than conventional models. Nevertheless, Toyota's and Honda's high-performance hybrids speak smartly to our emotions (desire for more speed and power) and our rationalizations (need to reduce our foreign oil dependency and improve our environmental quality of life) at a time when two of Detroit's Big Three automakers aren't offering any hybrids, and Japanese hybrid manufacturers can hardly keep pace with growing U.S. demand.

Marrying efficiency with improved functionality is becoming the new standard of "high performance," and savvy pioneers in the construction and auto industries are showing that green can be the smart consumer choice. With concerns over America's energy security and rising energy and resource prices, watch other industries turn green as well.

Edwin R. Stafford is an associate professor of marketing at Utah State University.

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