Why is Selling Sustainability So Challenging?

The perception still remains that environmentally-sound solutions cost a lot of money. LEED building is still in its relative infancy and only over the past two decades have planners, manufacturers, developers, and real estate decision-makers begun to take sustainable building seriously. For more about the history and evolution of the sustainable building movement, please download this report.Sadly, the sustainability movement has also become highly politicized. Misinformation is often disseminated by the media and leaders with their own agendas.

..Sustainability depends on getting the science right, but science is often politicized. Battles have occurred in the United States over evolution, vaccination, climate change and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)." - Ronald Herring, Cornell Professor of Government in the Cornell Chronicle

Additionally, getting the attention of decision-makers is difficult these days. COVID-19, radical changes in work and school structure, racial unrest, and economic uncertainty, are all consuming “share of mind” for business and community leaders. Adding environmental issues to the mix can be overwhelming for many, although the relationship between sustainability and health is a powerful one.