Remember how, way back in 2007, green was the new black? Watch for a new new black in 2008: green building.
The press is gushing with green-building news:
- According to a report from the American Institute of Architects, the number of cities with green-building programs has increased 418 percent since 2003, and AIA -- which has issued a list of 50 strategies for reducing buildings' fossil-fuel consumption 50 percent by 2010 -- says more cities are on track to start programs this year.
- The American Society of Landscape Architects says clients both residential and commercial are keening for green, SelfBuild & Design magazine says the money-saving properties of green properties make them a hot item for '08, and groups from Habitat for Humanity to a Boston homeless organization are also realizing and promoting the cost-saving benefits.
- The city of Chandler, Ariz., is considering reducing permit fees for people who incorporate green into their homes, and a coalition of national groups is inviting comments on new guidelines for the Sustainable Sites Initiative -- a sort of LEED for landscapes that will apply to everything from city parks to transportation rights of way.
Then there's HGTV's first-ever Green Home Giveaway: "We're taking green mainstream ... a green home can be a real home!" Win a green home in snooty Hilton Head, S.C.? Sounds OK on an ass-cold day like today.
You and me and a billion tiny spores
Fourth of July musings on symbols, patriotism, and identity
Are developers making mis-LEED-ing claims?
Comments
View as Flat
Gypsy Rose Posted 8:21 am
03 Jan 2008
Green Home Greenwash
One look at the HGTV clip on their Hilton Head "Green" home smacks of greenwashing in every sense. Destruction of coastal wetlands and other critical habitat, then touting wetland preservation (the remnant not developed). Put a golf course next to it and throw oversized trophy homes in the mix. I don't care how you spin it, there is no amount of "green" building that can cover up what this really is.
Permalink
planetrelations Posted 9:33 am
03 Jan 2008
Credible coastal project
Gypsy Rose - welcome your input on a different coastal project - Playa Viva. Restoring site with 7000 trees, organic farming classes to improve watershed quality, and using local materials for construction (living palms for treehouses). Comment at http://playaviva.wordpress.com/ .
Katharine - value your input too.
jeff@planetrelations.com or
http://twitter.com/planetrelations
Permalink