Building Alive, Designing to Thrive

Let me guess, it's Christmas Eve and you still have gifts to give? Boy oh boy do I have good news for you! What do you get for that special someone who has everything? The gift of giving! And here are some of my favorite charities I think you should consider this holiday season (or for Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries!) 1) Oxfam- Oxfam  working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. Oxfam saves lives, develops long-term solutions to poverty, and campaigns for social change. Whether it's providing a packet of seeds for a farmer in a poor area ($12) or a meal for a school aged child ($35), or supporting a women entrepreneur so she can get her business off the ground ($100). It's a one stop shop to provide meaningful gifts that will matter to each person you gift them to! On top of which, a donation g

Well- it's finally time! My sister delivered her first baby girl- Zoe Maureen. Zoe is the third of my nieces- Avery (below, right) , and Genevieve (below, left)  beating her out by a few months each. All of this new life got me thinking- what kind of world are we leaving for these babies? We all know the gloom and doom: rising sea levels, extreme weather events, food shortages, public health crises- the list goes on and on. But these little beings have their whole lives in front of them. Lives with a wealth of knowledge available to them with the touch of a button. Their futures will be stories of great opportunity, or great tragedy. I choose to believe people want to do the right thing- sometimes we need to be forced out of our business as usual mentality to do it. But overall, humans don't want to hurt other people or animals, we just have been numbed to the fact that all of our actions have that impact. You throw trash 'away', flip on a switch for po

"Life creates situations conducive to life…we must strive to do that" -Paul Hawken I've discussed this before, but I think it's worth addressing again; what ever happened to the precautionary principle? Why doesn't it apply to building science?   Imagine a world where it is harder to create a building or product that hurts the Earth than one that heals it- I believe that was the original intention of Building codes, Material Safety Data Sheets, and EPA regulation. But instead, it has provided opportunity for companies to say their products are safe because no one can prove they are dangerous!   Modern humans spend about 90% of their time in buildings- but still we construct them and finish them off with products that aren't healthy to breathe, touch, or make.   An article was published early last week about the long term negative health effects of 9/11 victims , rescuers, and so on. This year, dozens have died from cancers that can'

  A CSO in Brooklyn Source: Dontflush.me     The NYC+NJ Living Building Challenge Collaborative recently completed its first firm draft of a feasibility review on achieving Net Positive Water in New York City. Before I get into a NYC specific discussion, some of you may need a little background- PETAL INTENT (from the Living Future Institute) The intent of the Water Petal is to realign how people use water and to redefine ‘waste’ in the built environment, so that water is respected as a precious resource. Scarcity of potable water is quickly becoming a serious issue as many countries around the world face severe shortages and compromised water quality. Even regions that have avoided the majority of these problems to date due to a historical presence of abundant fresh water are at risk: the impacts of climate change, highly unsustainable water use patterns, and the continued drawdown of major aquifers portend significant problems ahead. IDEAL CONDITIONS AND C

Can we review the headlines in the news over the past week?   Houston- 8" of rain in 1 hour India- Heatwaves 120 degrees Fahrenheit kill over 1,000 Galapagos- Volcano erupts, threatening to wipe out fragile species that helped Darwin develop the theory of evolution Worldwide- increase of allergies globally as warmer seasons spread ragweed and other pollens- increased C02 will feed them. California- Santa Barbra oil spill over 100,000 gallons of crude oil last week.   And you want to sit there and tell me Climate Change isn't real?   And/ OR that humans have nothing to do with it? Then this is you my friend (insert pic)     The fact is, it's real and it's happening. So you can stick your head in the sand or you can be a part of the solution. And believe it or not, the solution doesn't even require you to give up something. You just need to get it a different way.   Energy is our Achilles heel, but also our greate