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While I’m not the world’s biggest fan of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” I can appreciate the benefits the show provides for a variety of deserving families, as well as the boost a product can receive from being featured on it. So when I heard one of my clients, Akeena Solar, would be providing a featured solar system to a family in Southern California that was being highlighted on the show, I started getting excited. What could be better for a solar company than a little celebrity endorsement from none other than the well-tanned, well-groomed Ty Pennington with the well-spiked hair?

When I first heard the news a few months ago, the episode wasn’t set to air until the end of March. Immediately, Akeena crews hustled down to San Bernardino to install the system in what amounted to a matter of hours. It was then that I started paying a bit more attention to the show: nearly every weekend the builders featured a new green building element—bamboo floors, eco-friendly paint, energy efficient appliances, and lots and lots of solar systems. And each time the green element was explained, it seemed to become more and more…well, normal, to feature these types of products. They look great and are environmentally friendly, the designers said. They are quality products with real cost-savings benefits, the builders said. They just made sense, Ty said.

Installing Akeena's Andalay Solar Panels

Had going green become mainstream?

For a while, my public relations team was able to rely on the uniqueness of solar when pitching the media. We could leverage the story of that kooky family down the block who installed a solar system, watched their meter spin backwards and never paid the electric company more than $12. But that was because not everyone had a solar system; people weren’t accustomed to seeing silicon panels popping up on rooftops everywhere. Fast-forward a few months, and solar—while not reaching the point of widespread adoption by any means—is no longer unfamiliar. Journalists tell me that the latest installation isn’t big enough, it isn’t sexy enough, and it’s something they’ve already covered. During those lonely hours watching late-night television, green suddenly begins to work its way into the vocabulary of infomercials and QVC. And green guides everywhere are popping up telling consumers how to shop.

It’s still a long road for green products to be the default choice in consumer’s brains. But with millions of viewers tuning in each weekend to see how easily green elements can be incorporated into homes, it’s going to get a lot easier to be green.

When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.  While I won’t try to put a positive spin on the economic turmoil that we face today, I will say that there is something to gain by seeking the positive. Without losing sight of that light at the end of the tunnel, we can alter our course temporarily while we wait for the storm to pass.

For some (including a number of my friends who have been laid off), this means applying to graduate school and “skipping out” as wage-earners altogether for a few years.  For others, it means delving deep into their creative and entrepreneurial spirits and seeking innovation at a time when nothing seems harder to do. There are many options to consider when presented with a roadblock, but the point is that the worst thing you can do is throw your hands up in despair and quit, for that could mean missing out on a golden opportunity.

It’s hard to believe, but the current $17 billion global drywall industry faced a supply shortage ten years ago as a result of the 1998 “building boom”. Building projects were stalled for months, new home construction stopped mid-way through production, and many families were left homeless. Yet, drywall factories were still running at capacity.

In this situation, the demand for drywall was directly related to the strong economy and consumer confidence. It also meant that drywall manufacturers were elated because they could sell 100% of their production, and the scarcity of the product meant that they could charge premium prices. As a consequence, it made economic sense for drywall companies to import the product from overseas instead of producing in the US. Shortly thereafter, the residential housing market collapsed, and an under-supply situation turned into an over-supply practically overnight–volumes and prices went into freefall.  Now, in 2009, the drywall market is the worst it has ever been.

This catastrophe within the building materials industry was an incentive for change. With oversupply in the local market and prices at an all-time low, it didn’t make sense to keep importing drywall. Instead of packing up and going home, people like Rod MacGregor, CEO of Antenna client CleanBoard, identified one segment of the market that was still growing: green building materials.  The drywall shortage gave way to expansion within this industry, and advancements in green/sustainable building materials market were born out of this disaster. According to McGraw-Hill Construction, green construction will grow from $12 billion in 2008 to $60 billion in 2010.  That’s the type of growth that the PC saw in the 80s and the Internet saw in the 90s.

Another popular Chinese saying is “be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” While many markets are tumultuous right now, it’s worth remembering that there are numerous examples of technology and innovations that were developed in the face of hardship. Turning a crisis into an opportunity isn’t just a good idea, its good business.