Watch out for dodgy 'green' contractors, says Edel Morgan
HAVE you ever been greenwashed? Greenwashing happens when tradespeople or builders jump on the eco-bandwagon and offer products or services despite having little or no relevant training.
I was greenwashed, quite literally, when I hired an outfit with, funnily enough, the word "green" in its company name to install my windows. I'm ashamed to admit I was blindsided by the name and naively assumed they had eco-credentials. What I didn't realise is that, in their case, I should have assumed the other meaning of green as in "fairly clueless" when it comes to energy efficiency. While they look good a subsequent energy audit of my home found that the windows are so leaky that they are contributing to our massive heating bills and are playing a blinder for global warming.
"Everyone wants to come across as green. Unfortunately, there is very little regulation," says Davie Philip of Cultivate.
As a consumer it can be difficult to determine which companies are authentic. Thankfully not everyone is trying to wing it. One silver lining of the downturn is that it has given builders and tradespeople the opportunity to skill up on green technologies, says Philip. "They are beginning to see that this is the future."
The organisers of the Sustainable Building show in the RDS last weekend claim that 9,500 tradespeople and members of the public attended, which they say is slightly up on last year. Key speakers at the event included Duncan Stewart who spoke about bringing the green industry into the mainstream and Joe Durkan of Sustainable Energy Ireland who spoke about energy efficiency in the home.
Another speaker Patrick Daly, the founder of BESRaC (Built Environment Sustainable Research and Consultancy), says the lack of regulation leaves people vulnerable to eco- chancers. "Contractors don't need to be anything to qualify as a contractor, that's why lots of farmers became contractors during the boom, and there are some eco-contractors out there that people should be cautious of." He advises that people hire on recommendation or through an architect/engineer who "would be reluctant to work with anyone who put them at risk".
EASCA, the Environmental and Sustainable Construction Association, was founded to help people find authentic green products and services. Anyone accredited by EASCA has been through an evaluation process by a panel of independent assessors - see EASCA.ie for details.
Daly says before you hire a company to do a job, it's a good idea to look at their track record and ask them what training they've had in their field. "The energy market has lots of new technologies and products which can leave things a bit open," he says.
Sustainable Energy Ireland's (SEI) website has a national register of building energy rated (BER) assessors. This means they've achieved a miminum level of competence in issuing BER certificates. BER certification comes into effect in January 2009 and anyone selling or renting a property must have it assessed .
I received an e-mail recently from a reader who hired a registered assessor but was unhappy with the service saying he "had to continually chase them for the recommendations report" and after offering to do an air tightness test on his home, they ultimately said it was "not worthwhile". SEI has a disclaimer on its website saying it "accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from, or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, completeness or merit of any BER certificate or any material or advice provided by BER assessors."
A spokeswoman from SEI says it's a case of "buyer beware" and the onus is on the consumer to get references. Failing that. she suggested that people contact the National Consumer Agency or Citizens Advice if unhappy with a service. You have been warned.
