By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: June 10, 2009
Published: June 10, 2009
NYTimes.com
GEORGE BRYSON and Alina Sanchez flunked the test on water consumption.
They had hired a consultant to tell them how they could do better at home in helping the environment, and although they did very well on energy use, water was another matter.
“I do a lot of thinking in the shower,” Ms. Sanchez offered as a possible explanation. (The culprit turned out to be the sprinklers.)
Environmental savings can be elusive, and the benefits and costs confusing. To help households wade through the information, consultants armed with stepladders and gadgets are selling advice on energy efficiency, indoor air quality and even methods for creating an eco-conscious wardrobe.
The field of personal and home eco-consultants is relatively new. GenGreen, a Colorado company that offers a national directory of businesses marketing themselves as green at gengreenlife.com, says it has just over 3,000 listings under the umbrella term environmental consultants, up from 657 when the database was started in 2007. They include energy auditors, health and wellness experts, interior designers and “eco-brokers,” real estate agents who specialize in green homes. While real estate agents can get training and certification as “eco” or “green” by trade organizations, and states like New York run energy audit programs with accreditation rules, there are no industry standards for most eco-consultants, who can range from environmental engineers to the self-taught.
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