All Posts Tagged With: "climate change"

I’m so excited about this Special Report , I can hardly sit still. Twenty years ago, as a young architect, when my eyes were opened to the tremendously negative impact my profession was having on the environment, I was shocked! Buildings use (and waste) a great deal of energy, water, and materials. My highly-competitive industry contributes substantially to climate change, environmental degradation , and even poor human health from sick building syndrome.

Rather than pack it all in, I saw these dismal statistics as a challenge . Surely, with intelligence, creativity , and determination, we can do better. I began to educate myself, to learn all I could about how nature really works, to study sustainability frameworks, to teach others about green design, to assemble and lead diverse project teams.

I am thrilled to be able to share what I’ve learned with you. Having negotiated my way through this maze over many years, I fully understand the challenges that come from your struggle. Being green-blooded involves your whole being: heart, head and hands. As with any creative endeavor, it is intuitive and rational, visionary and practical. There are plenty of challenges and nay-sayers along the way.

Download the "Four Success Secrets of Becoming Green-Blooded " now. We invite you to bookmark and share this post far and wide — let’s start a movement! Use the buttons at the bottom of the post.

And. . . .after you have gone through some of the questions and taken the suggested actions in the report, please post here with your answers, observations, and results. Get the conversation going — share your questions, concerns and successes.

Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo .

Two friends told me about this last Friday, so I had to check it out. It’s an excellent tour of the "tipping point" effects of climate destabilization — something even the IPCC predictions don’t account for. Leo Murray’s animation and narration makes the very complex science of climate feedback easy to understand and visualize in stark terms. While it does give a glimpse into probable scenarios of species extinction, climate refugees, and other human misery, Murray also tells us it’s not inevitable. This is not the time to panic, he says — this is the time to ACT!

On a related note, David Orr came to Baltimore on October 1 to give a talk about climate change policy. He and a group of experts have been briefing the two presidential campaigns as part of the Presidential Climate Action Project . On their website, you can view and download policy papers on what the next Transition Team has to do in order to hit the ground running in the first 100 days in office. Look through their "Climate Action Briefs" on topics such as the role of small business in addressing climate change, national security in a changing environment, the moral case for energy efficiency, and the great potentials of a new "green" economy.

While it’s very good news that the best minds in the U.S. are coming together on this, Leo Murray’s video is a timely reminder that we have spent the last 20 years waiting for government and industry to fix this problem. The message is loud and clear: it is up to US to act, and we must act NOW.

March 29th, 2008 the lights will go out in major metropolitan cities around the world. Join in the peaceful protest of the rising energy crisis. “Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.” Sign up on their website and pledge that you’ll turn your lights out March 29th, 2008 between 8pm-9pm or learn what you can do everyday of the year.

When I first got interested in sustainability, one of the simplest and most empowering definitions I ran across was from the Brundtland Commission Report, “Our Common Future,” published in 1987. The full report is available on-line. The definition reads:”Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Found in Chapter 2 of the report.)

I am thrilled to see that my alma mater, University of Virginia School of Architecture, is bestowing the University’s highest honor on the commission’s chairwoman, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. As part of the award ceremonies for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, she will speak on the campus on Friday, April 11, at 3:00p.m.

Her bio is impressive. She has long been a world leader in sustainable development and health, and was the youngest and first woman prime minister of Norway. The University of Virginia’s press release has a good overview.

It is striking that the ideas and recommendations contained in “Our Common Future” are just as relevant today as they were – twenty! – years ago. They were truly ahead of their time, although leading scientists and experts knew then what the rest of us are only now waking up to. Rather than fret about “it’s too late,” we should all re-read this powerful document and renew our commitment to doing what we can.

It’s full of thoughts like these (remember – written twenty years ago!): Continued

The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. They partner with indigenous communities, businesses, governments, multilateral institutions, and other non-profit organizations to address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems. Since their founding in 1951, they have protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide. They now operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.

“The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.” They seek to educate and mobilize local citizens in a way that encourages a swift societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products.