Slowly But Surely We Will Get There
This, via WorldChanging:
“Green buildings” sound great. But can we afford them?
The benefits are impressive. Building green means seeking out solar or other renewable power sources, utilizing smart architectural design to maximize natural sunlight and ventilation, and selecting recycled and nontoxic construction materials.
It ain’t just for the environment. These sorts of improvements will also help the health of the people who live and work in these buildings. And that doesn’t just mean physical health – building design can incorporate better arrangements for social interactions, encouraging community and the sharing of ideas and lives that goes with it. So that improves psychological health, and I think that feeds back into physical health, too – body and mind are so intertwined.
Peirce briefly looks at the cost issues, including a short run-down of some great examples of new “green building” projects, and concludes that “the reason only a tiny percentage of new American buildings and retrofits aren’t green isn’t cost. It’s lack of ingenuity or knowledge of new construction techniques — architects and builders wed to the “same-old,” lenders leery of anything unconventional.” (He even brings politics into the mix, but only for a short paragraph, and I’ll spare you any mention of it. Except that one.)
Finally, he states, “As such projects proliferate, maybe we’ll all take notice,” but “All the good individual examples are just reminders… of the massive changes — in attitudes, in priorities, in building construction, in transportation, across the board — that we’ll need for a truly green U.S.A.”
There is reason for hope after all – people just need to work the facts and push for better design. The pessimist in me can’t help nodding with recognition, however, at a comment at WorldChanging which points out that “In our wonderful system neither the BUILDER nor the OWNER nor the BANK typically pays the utility bills.”
