Building Alive, Designing to Thrive

Chicago Cultural Center's Tiffany Dome My first trip to the Windy City did not disappoint; I was pleased overall with session content and have some takeaways from each below. Teslas vs: Duck Curve This session touched on something that we in the New York City Living Building Challenge Collaborative have been discussing . In California, high energy efficiency and solar PV requirements have lead to high renewables production mid day to the grid, and an exponentially higher demand on the grid towards late afternoon hours when everyone is heading home. At the same time, Electric vehicles could potentially charge mid day while people are at work, and 'sell' some of their battery charge to the grid in the early evening when people are home and won't need their full remaining capacity. The grid here on the east coast isn't well suited to accept power, I am curious to see this theory grow. Building the First LEED Platinum City Washington DC announced last year...

"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'...

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 ou...

Zugunruhe is a German word that describes the unsettling feeling birds have that makes them want to migrate. They can sense change and they want to move ahead of it. This is a feeling that clearly the human species does not share with our avian brother. We live in places that have started to see storms beyond our imagining, drought, heat, extreme cold,etc. And yet we do not move. We dig in our feet and our oil wells and continue to 'prosper' International panels of scientists have overwhelmingly agreed that humans are affecting climate change. So, lets STOP arguing about whether it's real or not because it was cold this winter and START discussing solutions. This sculpture is called "Politicians Discussing Climate Change".  The 2 FEET of sea level rise expected to occur by 2050 can likely not be halted. So how can we create healthy, resilient places to live, now that we know?  I love the idea of green building and living infrastru...

BIKE TO WORK DAY MAY 16, 2014 Bicycle Safety (now you know!) Bicycles on the roadway are, by law, vehicles with the same rights, and responsibilities as motorized vehicles. Bicyclists should travel with traffic, in the shoulder or as far over as is safely possible. In NJ, helmets are required for anyone under 18- however if you are biking in location where there is automobile traffic, it is highly recommended to take the extra step. When riding in groups, never ride more than 2 across. On narrow roads with no shoulder or bike lane, ride single file.  Use hand signals to notify motorists and other riders when you are turning or stopping "More than half of the U.S. population lives within five miles of their workplace, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it’s not surprising that, from 2000 to 2011, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more tha...