If you ask what you are going to do about global warming, the only rational answer is to change the way in which we do transportation, energy production, agriculture and a good deal of manufacturing. The problem originates in human activity in the form of the production of goods…The Chinese like to say, ‘Crisis means change.’ It means you can get things done. Unfortunately, I think that most of the ‘greening’ that we see so much of now has failed to look back on arguments such as my own — that action has to be taken on what’s produced and how it’s produced. That’s unfortunate, but I’m an eternal optimist, and I think eventually people will come around (color added).

               –Barry Commoner
                 The Paul Revere of the Environmental Movement 

A Showcase of the Best in Sustainability, Technology, and Design.  Plans are in motion on the first-ever WIRED LivingHome, a modern, luxury residence that will attain at least a Gold rating under the LEED for Homes Program by the USGBC.  Located in an exclusive, modernist home community of Los Angeles called Crestwood Hills, the large 4,057 sf WIRED LivingHome is set to be finished by Fall 2007.

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With the weird looking skyscrapers, there’s a business problem of having expensive, unusable space.  Often, the most pragmatic, profitable shape is the plain old rectangle.  So for the sake of staying grounded in reality, today I’m going back to the boxy, modern-style skyscraper.  Above is Arrowhead, a 525,000 sf office building under construction in South Quay, London (UK) by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.  The 26-story building is expecting an "excellent" rating under BREEAM, the environmental building assessment tool used in the UK.  Among other green features, Arrowhead will have a green roof on the top and a mid-level rooftop terrace.  The building also has a glass climate wall with external metal shading to retain heat gain in the winter and permit cooling in the summer. 

Good Links:
++Arrowhead, London, United Kingdom [SOM]
++SOM Gets Green Light for Office Development in Millennium Quarter [WAN]

::"S2" is short for "Skyscraper Sunday," a weekly article on green skyscrapers posted every Sunday::