Monkey See Monkey Do

An energy and sustainable design student in England decided to build a zero-carbon house but the unique thing about the project is that Will Anderson (the student) made a diary documenting the entire process so that others could learn from and expand on what Anderson did. So often builders get stuck in traditional building methods because that is all they know and all they have ever seem. In order for society to make a shift in building methods pioneers need to make their processes and technology known. It is important that designers and builders become aware of the possibilities. People on the cutting edge of design innovation need to make sure they market their findings so that people can really start to apply new building methods.

Sustainability in rural China?

Several organizations and universities have conducted experiments with rural villages in China in order to develop sustainable infrastructure. An article stated many successes came about through these case studies. One village was able to make a higher net income as well as reduce waste and lower their carbon output. Over half the villagers converted to cooking and heating with methane that is produced by the village’s cows. Now, what is the next step? China has some where around 3.2 million villages so how should the sustainable practices in the case study spread to other villages? The Chinese government will need to step up and take charge of this infrastructure conversion. The case studies proved the efficiency and the benefits so now development needs to be made to allow this education and technology to saturate China as a whole. This is will be no easy task but the Chinese have made a step in the right direction.

Change: a holistic approach

I just read an editorial that said that pursuing eco-friendly lifestyles “is of secondary importance” compared to political and collective solutions. Often times, we in American culture like to compartmentalize our lives. What I mean by this is we like to have our work life, our home life, our political life, our spiritual life, and the list goes on and on. So in many ways I feel the author feels out political lifestyle is much more important than say our home lifestyle. If we as a society are going to see change in our sustainable stance we need to take a holistic approach that unifies what our political actions are with all of the other compartments that we box our lives into.

USGBC and Obama

The US Green Building Council has put together several proposals of the Obama administration according to one article. It is good to hear that the USGBC is on the ball with sustainable legislation because I feel that new leaders often drop the ball when they get to office because they have too many things on their plate. Hopefully sustainability won't take a back burner to all of the front page issues. I hope all of Obama's innovative speeches about sustainability come to a realization and I hope organizations like the USGBC will keep pushing for governmental action.

Ravished Community Goes Green(ish)

The city of Greensburg, Kansas was almost totally destroyed by a tornado in May 2007. The city decided to rebuild all of the city owned buildings to LEED Platinum standards. I guess it only makes sense that a city with the name of Greensburg goes green. I'm just not sure if the city went about it in a smart way. A recent article talked about how the architecture program at the University of Kansas designed and built a LEED Platinum art center for the community. It is great that the university got involved but I wonder if the school's and/or the community's priorities are skewed. The art center cost around $800,000. This may not be a wise use of money when only 750 of the 1,400 residents of Greensburg have homes. I mean how sustainable is a community that has a LEED art center but the residents don't have homes. I think by definition a sustainable community needs homes. It has been a a year and a half and only half of the population has returned to the city. Plus I question the sustainability of a totally glass covered building in a tornado zone, but that is a whole different issue in and of its self.

LEED for existing buildings?

LEED for existing buildings?

In many ways LEED certification has become a very trendy process for new construction projects, which in many ways is a very positive move for the construction and design industry. What about all of the millions of buildings that were built before the development of LEED or the buildings that were built with disregard for the LEED certification. In 2002 the LEED-EB (LEED- Existing Build) pilot program was developed. The program had little momentum in the beginning of the program but a recent article stated that the USGBC has reorganized the criteria for the LEED-EB program to make it more intuitive and this makes the LEED-EB program more accessible. I think this is a very positive change because now that we have been looking to the future with LEED it is also important to start looking to the past with LEED-EB. The ratio between LEED buildings and non-LEED is astronomical and the only way of bridging the gap between LEED and non-LEED buildings in the near future is through the LEED-EB program. I can only hope that that LEED-EB becomes as trendy as LEED.

Fuel Efficiency or Bankruptcy

Fuel Efficiency or Bankruptcy

An article recently stated that Ford Motor Company is facing a financial crisis and could be on the verge of bankruptcy. The Company faces this crisis because they are unable to compete with the Japanese car manufactures. Ford has not been able to keep up with the technology advances and with the slowing economy and the rising gas prices Ford trucks and SUV s have been on the decline. The company has now asked to be apart of the 700 billion dollar bailout. I don't think it is smart to bailout and reward a company who is not willing to be apart of the solution to our current energy crisis. I also can't help to think about the thousands of workers and families that will suffer due to Ford's lack of technology development. It might be worth bailing out Ford for the workers sake but I don't think it is wise to reward a company for not being able to compete with innovative car manufactures. If there is a bail out of Ford and other American companies there needs to be reorganization of the companies management and priorities.