Today I am very happy to announce that Build2Sustain has launched their white paper addressing sustainable construction and the need to increase transparency and demonstrate ROI. A free copy of the paper can be obtained by filling out a simple form on the Build2Sustain website.
Last week I received a very interesting press release from a prestigious builder's PR firm. The email started by explaining the very admirable steps that the builder was taken to be a leader in sustainable building. The measures the builder was taking were extraordinary such as building a carbon neutral headquarters, taking measures to reduce carbon emissions from construction equipment, purchasing offsets to make their entire operation carbon neutral, etc. However, the PR firm committed a major goof which left me feeling like I had been scammed, they capped the press release off by exclaiming how the builder built homes with a completed value of up to 60 Million dollars! How can a 60 Million dollar home possibly even approach being considered sustainable? Perhaps the builder would be best advised not to take measures to appear sustainable and instead serve as an educator to counsel their clients that outrageous extravagance is not needed and that they can build luxury homes without constructing the next McMansion.
Image: Infobarrel
Environment News Service published the findings from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) green study this week and the findings show that America is experiencing explosive green growth.The AIA study shows that 138 cities now have green building programs compared with just 92 in 2007, an incredible 50 percent increase! The Eastern region experienced even greater growth with a 75 percent increase in the number of cities with green programs. However, what I found to be most interesting was the following quote by Christine McEntee, AIA's CEO:
"It is encouraging that cities are recognizing the economic benefits of energy-efficient buildings, and equally encouraging that the number of programs across the country are increasing despite such difficult economic conditions,Our ultimate goal is to achieve carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030 and that all design projects will be sustainable as a matter of course."
In light of this growth what is your city doing to encourage green building and how are you preparing yourself to take advantage of it? While GBET often focuses on the risks of green building it is equally important to focus on the potential rewards. I would love to hear how you and your company are involved in the green building field or what your plans are to enter it.
Thank you to all my loyal readers. Today I am honored to inform you that Green Building Enviro Trends has been named one of the Top 50 Construction blogs by The Construction Paper. The entire list can be found here. It is a great honor to have my blog selected as one of the Top 50 Construction blogs as well as being previously named one of the Top 50 Environmental blogs. I thank you for your continued support as it is your participation that make writing this blog such an enjoyable experience.
I just wanted to take a moment and share with my readers that as of today I have officially passed the Florida Bar Exam! Thank you to everyone for your support these last few months as I anxiously awaited my results. This week I will not be updating as often as I will be in Florida attending several interviews but I should return by the end of the week and have several posts ready for your reading enjoyment.
Law school…How did you end up there? Was it a dream of making tons of money or perhaps working to right social wrongs? If you are a recent graduate like me you realize now that there is no big money to be had, let alone for some of us even a job. Additionally, you now realize that even if you desire to right social wrongs you are likely unable to afford to do so! However, now is not a time to feel sorry for yourself or to throw in the towel but rather an excellent time for reflection on what can be learned from the often frustrating process of searching for a legal job.
To be a great lawyer you must be the quintessential Renaissance man, an individual who is able to understand and apply the law to clients problems, market yourself to potential clients, and be able to close the deal. An attorney is an advocate, a marketer, and a salesperson. Likewise, to be a great job searcher you must fulfill the same roles, you must advocate for yourself, market yourself, and ultimately be able to close the deal. While at the current time I am unemployed I am not throwing in the towel by any means. This blog, my involvement on twitter, and my social activities are all designed to enable me to continue learning from more experienced practitioners, to market myself as a knowledgeable and professional individual, and to enable me to better understand they key issues facing people in the construction and green building industries so that I will ultimately be better situated to assist them in the future.
If you are currently a law student, a recent graduate, or even an unemployed attorney consider how you too can use technology to better position yourself for the future. I encourage you to find something you are passionate about and then to make both the financial commitment and the commitment of time to engage in dialogue with others.
I owe a tremendous debt to the following individuals who have helped me get to where I am today and who have assisted me in my job search as well as my understanding of the field of construction law and green building.
My family, Vik Duggal, Chris Cheatham, Shari Shapiro, Stephen Del Percio, Christopher Hill, James Bedell, Professor J,J Brown, Professor John Rains and to all those who I have forgotten to mention.
Image via MinnPost
Today I realized how utterly dependent we as a country are on our vehicles for transportation. This observation was not made as I sat in a traffic jam or as I waited for a red light to change but rather as I reached into the back seat of my car to grab my gym shoes so that I could go work out. Ok so that doesn't seem so bad right? You are likely saying big deal lots of us drive to the gym...Well the gym in less than a mile from my house and I was going there to run!
It was in that brief moment that I realized not only am I way too dependent on my car but that due in large part to our nation's aging and inefficient transportation system millions of Americans are dependent on theirs as well. While LEED certified buildings place an certain amount of emphasis on public transportation and low or no emission vehicles perhaps it is time for us to urge our leaders to overhaul the American transportation system not only to make it more efficient but to reduce our dependency on cars in the future, to reconnect us with our community through use of public transportation (yes its ok to remove the Ipod, drop the newspaper and actually talk to the people you meet on planes, trains, and buses). and to reduce our carbon footprint.
Rep. Jim Oberstar has proposed a complete transportation overhaul which I will attempt to summarize in several brief bullet points. While this program might seem outlandish at first glance I believe in the big picture it would have a far greater and more lasting impact than wasting billions of dollars on Cash for Clunkers and other such trivial efforts to improve the environment and stimulate the economy. Oberstar's plan is briefly summarized below:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if an entire city block was demolished and rebuilt in a sustainable manner? Imagine a city block suffering from years of neglect, crumbling and blighted being demolished and replaced by modern, innovative, sustainable buildings. For the residents of Dallas this is soon to be reality.
The Central Dallas Community Development Corporation (CDCDC) will be funding and developing the project which received design concepts from all over the world. The new city block will be an off the grid block harnessing solar, wind, and geo thermal energy to meet its power, heating and cooling needs. The block will incorporate many sustainable features. John Greenan of CDCDC summed up the benefits of the project in the following quote:
“I think Re:Vision Dallas is going to change the way people look at Dallas. Dallas--like most sunbelt cities--has more to gain than any other area of the United States from sustainable technology. Our period of greatest energy usage coincides with the best period to produce solar energy, the summer when we need air conditioning, so we have the possibility of vastly reducing the needs for new power plants by employing renewable energy sources. Peak power and peak loads come at the same time. Texas already leads the nation in wind production. It's possible that Re:Vision Dallas, along with other initiatives already in place, will help make Texas a leader in solar power as well, and maybe even geothermal energy.
That's just part of what the project will do. The winning designs are so striking--both beautiful and unusual--that we think the project will be a must see destination. The urban farming incorporated in the designs will bring attention to the Slow Food movement and help accelerate the growth of Dallas's Farmer's Market, which is only a short distance away. In the end, I think the project will have more impact than we can even imagine now.”
Re:Vision Dallas has the potential to change the way we think about urban design and serve as a model for how the cities of tomorrow are constructed. In my previous post I discussed the Babcock Ranch project, the eco-city of tomorrow being built in Florida which will hopefully serve as the suburban model for sustainable communities. It is my hope that these two projects in combination can serve as a model for how future communities in both urban and suburban environments are constructed.
This week May 20-21st I will be attending an event in Orlando by Sensible Cities. i will be there both as a representative of this blog as well as courtesy of Vik Duggal and Konstructr. The event promises to present a variety of opportunities to speak with and interview leaders in the fields of sustainable design as well as to tour the brand new 1 MW solar array on the roof of the Orange County Convention Center. I will be interviewing as many of the speakers as possible and am reaching out to you my readers for any questions you would like me to ask. So faithful readers please let me know what questions you would like to have answered and I will do my best to report back to you.
Babcock Ranch is an eco-city being built in southwest Florida by Kitson and Partners. Babcock Ranch is to be powered entirely by an onsite solar power system, the largest of its kind which will make Babcock Ranch the first city powered entirely by solar power. Florida Power and Light is building the 300 million dollar solar facility which will be hooked into a smart grid. The solar system will help Florida reach Governor Christ's goal of having 20% of Florida's power derived from renewable resources by 2020. The facility is scheduled to cost 2 Billion dollars with 300 Million slated for the 75MW solar power plant. Babcock Ranch is projected to create 20,000 permenant jobs within the state.
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What do you think of developing green cities? Is this the model for all future development in undeveloped areas?
All photos: Babcock Ranch
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