Are builders irresponsible in managing the impact they have on the environment? Many people consider builders to be irresponsible in managing the impact they have on the environment. Do you have any examples that back up or refute this assertion?

My builder is notorious for cutting down every single tree to build a community. I would love to see builders keep more of the original trees instead of planting saplings to few and far between.

Take a drive by any large building site and you will see loads of examples of builders being irresponsible to the environment. Watch them burning all kinds of building materials. Watch them burying all kinds of building materials. Look at the unfinished walls. Do you see any holes where the chipboard or other material has been broken? Do you think this is repaired by the builder before the outer cladding is finished? (Ans: never!) Think about the heat loss and thus the ffect on the environment. Most all builders only provide for minimum quantities of insulation and other materials. If the building code is silent - they will not provide - and the building code is woefully antiquated.

I believe most home building is harmful to the environment but that it could be done a lot more responsibly. I frequently read news about this or that builder who was fined for clear cutting hundreds or thousands of trees illegally, allowing damaging erosion, or for burying wildlife alive. They get a "fine" and treat it like a "fee," just something they have to pay, a cost of doing business. Indirectly, the home buyer is paying those fines. Real enforcement would carry jail time for the offender, particularly for repeats. Let the corporate CEO's sit in a cell with Bubba the Enforcer and see how fast they clean up their act.