I have recently been searching for a new apartment, and I have seen ads for new, green condos and apartments all over the place. At first I was really excited to see these new developments, and to a certain extent, I still think that it is really neat how popular green living has become. But it did raise some concerns in my mind as well.

It seemed like an incredible waste of resources to me to tear down old buildings and in their place build new green buildings. Could those old buildings have been retrofitted? Maybe not, but I would be much happier to move to a renovated and "recycled" building than a brand new one. Furthermore, all of these apartment buildings seemed to be on the high end, very luxurious and in trendy neighborhoods. While I think that is wonderful, I wish that we were making green living more accessible to everyone, perhaps especially to the poorest who could use the energy efficiency to save money.

I would love to see low income or subsidized housing go green, and eco friendly housing be available to everyone.

Is policy a good way to see this accomplished?