We are inundated with evidence of the Green Movement: green car commercials on TV, green products in our stores and a growing number of green buildings and homes across America. But one thing I keep asking colleagues, friends, family, clients and myself is “Has it gotten easier to go Green?” We now have multiple rating systems from a variety of organizations battling for market-share to save the planet. We have more than 300 eco-labels around the world for everything from toilet paper to roofing materials. We have a lot of information and options, but have the actions that truly get us to a more sustainable life gotten easier?

Even though we have a lot of awareness about issues related to green, it is remarkable that the more we know, the more we realize we don’t. I find myself swamped with data, articles, books and points of view about the big issues surrounding sustainability. We have approximately 125,000,000 existing residential dwelling units in the United States today. Most rating systems are based on the assumption that we are building new projects or have the budget to basically overhaul the entire project from the ground up. Given the economic status of most of American real estate markets and the fact that most families are in major spending freeze, how beneficial is it for the marketplace to be pushing for major renovations that cost tens of thousands of dollars per home?

My friends and neighbors often ask me, “Hey, I hear you’re some kind of a green guy, can you tell me what I can do with my house?” And since I am committed to getting more green implemented on this planet, I typically oblige. After providing a quick walk through and a brief assessment, the question is always, “How much is this going to cost me?” To which I respond, “How long do you plan to own a house, and much do you want to hand over to your utility company over that time period?” Most people want the cost-saving features, but are having a hard time getting over the upfront costs.

The cost hurdle for green should be an easy one for us to cross. My strategy is to harness economic value to environmental performance, and I have never seen anyone back away from a decision that made monetary sense. One person even told me that it seems like I am a green mutual fund manager for their projects. I strive to combine as many green features into their building and homes that, in aggregate, save operating costs tied to resources such as energy and water, make the buildings last longer and ultimately more productive and healthy for the occupants.

Greener buildings are going to help families and well as businesses survive this economic downturn. I hope we don’t forget the lesson we learned last year when fuel prices spiked to more than $4.00/gallon. We drive our cars 1-2 hours a day on average and the rest of the time they are parked somewhere sitting idle. Our homes and our buildings run 24/7/365, and utility companies all around the country are raising their rates. We can all benefit by reviewing our current mutual fund (building) and identifying some investments (green elements) that can be made to provide a future payback based on savings. The best part about focusing on the financial benefits of green is that to get a monetized value out, you need to reduce the consumption of energy, water, maintenance, etc. If you are reducing consumption, you need less, utilities produce less, extract less, and there is less impact on the planet and the people. It is a great example of how less can be more. More money in your pocket.