It's a Green Week

I recently spent some time traveling in Europe and was surprised by how much attention the Green Initiative was getting in the press.  It seemed like every third story in the news was talking about an organization trying to reduce their carbon load.  While Green is getting more and more coverage here in the states, it still seemed a stark contrast to the occasional story here in the states. 

Lately, that seems to be changing.  First, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Price for his work spreading the word about Global Climate Change, and now NBC has decided to hold Green Week.  While I admire their initiative, it seems a bit contrived.  For example their half-time and post game shows were broadcast with the studio lights turned off.  While the intentions were meant to be good, I couldn't help but think that it was merely a cute stunt to gain publicity and ratings. 

On a note closer to home, at the Greenbuild Expo, Autodesk and the Green Building Council presented an update update on their ongoing collaboration to expand the use of technology to facilitate adoption of sustainable design and green building.  You can read the press release here.

I think that the fact that the move towards green buildings is gaining momentum is fantastic.  At the same time, I'm often surprised by the fact that people who are building these buildings spend so much time making the building green, but don't think about how to make the process of building it green.  The amount of paper and energy that is wasted on a typical design and construction project is staggering.  And by implementing collaboration solutions and more efficient processes, the majority of this waste can be eliminated.  For those people who recognize this fact, I raise my glass and commend you.  For the rest of you, I say "Let's talk about how we can reduce the carbon load of your projects!"

This reminds me of a meeting I had a few years ago with a very progressive developer in the North East.  He said to me "Alex, I want my project to be completely paperless, and that means I don't even want toilet paper on the job site!".  You have to commend his enthusiasm!

Comments

[Scott]

"While the intentions were meant to be good, I couldn't help but think that it was merely a cute stunt to gain publicity and ratings. "

I think you are spot on with this..I was watching the game and when they showed the studio with the candles I was like this is a little much. Although I did like the idea of broadcasting from the climate hot spots of the world (artcic, equator and antarctica). Concentrating on individual contributions to green initiatives at home and at work should be a concern for people, but talking about it during prime time tv probably isn't going to generate much buzz.

I'm from the Boston area and a green building that really stands out is the Genzyme Center in Cambridge. Martin Lamonica @ Cnet wrote about it over the summer and has some great photos. Here is the link so you can see it for yourself if you aren't already familiar with it :)

http://www.news.com/2300-11392_3-6203709-1.html