Newsletter December 16, 2005 Green Building - I
|
|
 click for more pictures |
|||
Redbud Wind - energy project archive
This wind turbine icon provides a link to track progress at the Redbud Wind I site near Enid, OK. The intent is to provide an ongoing look inside the procedures of wind energy analysis at this site. The icon will appear in future newsletters.
Prelim
"We see a world of abundance, not limits. In the midst of a great deal of talk about reducing the human ecological footprint, we offer a different vision. What if humans designed products and systems that celebrate an abundance of human creativity, culture, and productivity? That are so intelligent and safe, our species leaves an ecological footprint to delight in, not lament?"William McDonough & Michael Braungart
Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things
Green and Proud of It
Editorial
Architectural Record, December 2005
by Robert Ivy, FAIA, Editor in Chief"Several events that occurred in November point out that green is growing up. After its birth in the 1960s as a barefoot earthchild, spending a scrappy adolescence in the 1970s as a Serious Cause-replete with passive heating, organic diets, and "coolth tubes" (remember those?)-and recent decades as a trend manque, the design and construction culture seems to be getting the green message."
"Sustainability, freed from cult status, has matured into a standard that underlies the expectation of all design. Bolstered by scientists from organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, architects now know that their work has immense impact on the environment, consuming 70 percent of electricity in this country, twice the energy consumption of cars and trucks. Our structures contribute one third of total carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, a sobering fact when confronting global warming's effects, which include the melting of polar ice caps or glaciers and an increase in storm activity. While some stubborn few still dismiss carbon emissions as the culprit, no one can dispute the skyrocketing costs of energy. We all live in a world where oil prices routinely hit (and have exceeded) $60 per barrel."
Web Link - Robert Ivy Editorial - Green and Proud of It
"The U.S. Green Building Council is the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work."
"LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) is a green building rating system that was designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, with a focus on office buildings. Practitioners have also applied the system to K-12 schools, multi-unit residential buildings, manufacturing plants, laboratories and many other building types."
