Texass Green Builder initiative; OIKOS, another online directory based in Portland Oregon; the Guide to Resource-Efficient Building Elements of Montanas Center for Resourceful Building Technology; the Environmental Resource Guide, a hard copy and CD-ROM directory, published between 1992 and 1999 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA); and the Green Spec database, in hardcopy and online, organized by the publishers of the Environmental Building News. There are also a growing number of regional directories because what is green depends so much on local conditions and resources. While these groups have worked hard to support and encourage more technical research and evaluation, their focus has had to be eminently practical since their clientele is the architects, engineers, builders, retailers and renovators engaged in everyday acts of building. In the absence or scarcity of complete information, they have had to be somewhat eclectic in their assessment of what products to recommend and promote. Rarely are the publishers of these directories engaged in basic LCA themselves, but they try to synthesize available information, drawing on both available hard LCA data, and more qualitative analysis. They have often had to compare apples and oranges within the same categoryfor example, comparing the energy-intensity of one product with the toxicity of another (Wilson, 2000). Some products in a certain category might be the greenest simply because the available alternatives are so destructive (for example, CCAtreated wood or PVC plastic). Many products are the lesser evil and, with almost all products less than perfect from an environmental perspective, most choices are a compromise between environmental quality and reality.