Explosion Green: One Man's Journey To Green The World's Largest Industry

by David Gottfried

Explosion Green tells the twenty-year story of the global green building movement through the eyes of David Gottfried, the man who helped start it all.  Explosion Green reveals the inner workings of the building industry as it comes to grips with the need for environmentally friendly practices. It describes how the industry has evolved, and how this evolution has helped fight climate change and prevent further damage to the environment while creating a multibillion-dollar industry.  Filled with his unique insight and self-deprecating humor, Gottfried’s riveting memoir demonstrates how one person can start a global movement. "Explosion Green" has won three 2014 Indie Book Second Place Grand Prize for Non-fiction, Business Category, and Memoir Category

Genres: Environment, Sustainability

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Matthew Dahlhausen · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Explosion Green” was handed out at Greenbuild 2013. It's written by David Gottfried, the founder of USGBC. The book is comically inept. It contains cliches (green everything), name dropping high-society restaurants, stores, and institutions (he refers to his wife by the schools she attended), and useless content (he opens the book with a chapter on buying expensive suits in NYC).
I had to force myself through it, skimming towards then end. Its sole redeeming quality is that the reader comes to understand the warped reality of USGBC and its founders, who are shallow careerists and self-affirming capitalists. As to what "green" building and eco-conscious action entails, the book is frighteningly insincere:
"On the other hand, what is a reasonable level of inconvenience if it serves the greater good? (I recall one of our USGBC board members wiping his hands on his pants during a bathroom break at one of our board meetings so he could avoid using a paper towel.) Do you eat only homegrown vegetables? If Sara and I tried to, we'd probably starve. Do you ride your bike to work in the rain, or haul your kids to school in a Burley bike chariot even if you are pressed for time? I did make it one year without a car when we first moved into our LEED Platinum home. However, the extra time and inconvenience added to my stress, which lowered my green health score, even as my eco-footprint points increased - in my Life Balance Sheet(TM) Rating System."p.224

"...One common name for ideas such as these is the Steady State Economy. In their typical lively way, Australians call it the "Nega economy" - meaning that the only growth we can afford is nega-growth, where every footprint needs to be minus-two footprints, and the smaller your eco footprint, the more money you'll make!" p.270
Please, tell us David, how one can can indefinitely grow an economy by shrinking material throughput . The poor of the world need to how they can shrink their speck of material wealth so they can then magically make more money and score better on their Life Balance Sheets(TM).
A quick internet search would have prevented that severe misrepresentation of the Steady State position http://steadystate.org/.

"It's amazing to think that we're building the bridge leading capitalism from a consumption-based modality to one that embraces resource efficiency, health, and productivity... We're moving step by step toward my dream that the billionaires of the future will make their fortunes by embracing green; hopefully those who negligently look the other way will eventually lose money and perhaps even go bankrupt."p.276
Yes David, it is amazing to think that. It's misguided to think that we can be "green" and "sustainable" without having to get into that messy talk about wealth and resource inequity and that the green capitalists will save us because they have money, technology, and our bests interests in mind.

I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that many in the green building world gave the book good reviews. It's a great example of the green capitalist position, which is rightfully criticized by those on the right for using the mask of green building for financial gain, and by those on the left for wholly ignoring that our lack of sustainability is a symptom of larger systematic social, ecological, and economic problems that are mostly the fault of `"free"-market capitalism.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was given for free at the 'Greenbuild' sustainable building conference this year in Philadelphia. It's the memoir of the founder of the USGBC and essentially an unflitered blow-by-blow of the USGBC's life over the past two decades.

Gottfried shares a lot about his personal life and career, the latter of which was very interesting. His personal notes were charming when related to his experiences with the USGBC and all other things green, but at times felt a little like he'd been narrating his life for a long time and simply waiting for the opportunity to get some attention for it.

Overall, it was a good read, and very helpful to receive in conjunction with the conference. It brought the experience full circle, and highlighted the spirit of the USGBC: good ideas carried by enthusiastic people can change...everything! Unfortunately, I did not sense this during my time at Greenbuild, and many of my colleagues echoed an observation of plateau in terms of the group's progress.

[Jennifer Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read and interesting to understand the start of the green building industry but it was just a lot about his life and personal goals and honestly seems like he added a lot to the greenwashing that is happening in the building industry.

[Peter Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring story about changing, and hopefully saving our world for future generations.

[Rochelle March · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining read, like a dramatic memoir, and gives an interesting history of the green building construction movement. Also includes several inspirational passages and good resources for more information.