Following Jacob’s post on cement, I’m doing some research on green building schemes – specifically Built Green. I don’t mean to pick on them – but it’s a classic example of the state of ecolabels.

It’s a messy family tree – there are a lot of children running around, but it’s not obvious who the parents are. Build Green Washington seems pretty mature, but the county level Built Green schemes all left home, and got new logos. Kids. Then there’s the distant cousins that moved to Canada (but really only settled in BC in Alberta).

Of course, the proud grandparents live in Colorado (Built Green Colorado), where we find the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, which still holds the keys to the Prius in the energy efficient garage – and the Built Green trademark.

It feels a bit like beating my head against a brick wall – I don’t care that it’s reclaimed brick – it still hurts.

I have a feeling LEED’s not much better. One of our goals with ecolabelling.org is to help make this all a bit clearer — but I think schemes could really do with getting their houses in order too. How about some discipline around here – everyone in the Built Green family wears the same logos, and everyone plays by the same rules.