Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

Green versus Greed by Rick Fedrizzi

On Friday Rick Fedrizzi, founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council and current President and CEO, sent out a letter to USGBC constituents to address general market concerns relating to the economy and future of green building.  I thought the letter was interesting because he mentions something I've been thinking about for over a year now: the allocation of sustainable accountability.  Whether it's the newest green ad campaign or some politician's promise, I feel the prevailing mentality is that the government or businesses or someone else, someone other than me, is going to help us figure out the toughest of tough issues.  Anyway, I don't want to put words in the venerable Mr. Fedrizzi's mouth, so here's the letter if you didn't get the email yesterday:

Will There Be One Global Green Building Standard to Rule Them All?

This article was written by Phil Clark who blogs about green building and development in the UK at Zerochampion.  Make sure to come back after visiting his site ...

Will there ever be one green building standard to rule them all?  It’s an interesting question given the explosion of new ones that are emerging around the globe: in the past month news has reached us over here of a new standard planned by the recently German Sustainable Building Council (this was discovered by Building Sustainability columnist and U.S. expert Jerry Yudelson, a reference of which is in this article) and of a new guide for eco-friendly projects in New Zealand.

A Clean Break: Philly Prefab Exhibit

In conjunction with Design Philadelphia and National Design Week 2008, Minima Gallery in Philadelphia is hosting a prefab exhibition titled A Clean Break from October 17-30.  The purpose of this event is to promote "clean development -- aesthetically and ecologically."  The exhibit is described as an "exhibition of modern prefab architecture and high-design, low-waste innovations for the urban environment."  Pretty cool.

Need a Quick Favor Green Readers!

Pardon the interruption, but this is for a good cause.  In mid-November, I'll be on a panel at Greenbuild called "Green Blogs and the Built Environment" with industry leading bloggers from The Green Workplace, Treehugger, Green Buildings NYC, and Building Green TV.  The general idea of the panel is to discuss how the environmental movement is using blogs to collect information, share ideas, and collaborate in new ways.  In preparation for the panel, we've developed a very short survey to ask you how blogging impacts the built environment.  It'll take no time really, but the information is seriously helpful and we'll discuss the results during the panel.  Thanks in advance for you time and we'll see you in Boston!!

[+] Green Blogs and Environment Survey

Justin Timberlake Seeking LEED Platinum for Golf Course Buildings

Justin Timberlake (you know: singer, actor, songwriter, producer, etc.) is a single-digit-handicap golfer, and loves the sport.  Recently, he noticed that the first course he ever played golf on as a kid was going up for auction for development.  Originally called Woodstock Hills, Timberlake was able to buy Big Creek with a consortium of owners.  Soon after purchase, Timberlake discovered he could "green" the course, so he decided to build the upscale clubhouse, cart cottage, and maintenance facility to LEED Platinum certification standards. 

SF Performing Arts Center LEED Design

Earlier this month, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design announced a total of 66 buildings as winners of the prestigious and coveted American Architecture Awards program.  One of those buildings was Tom Eliot Fisch's and LMN Architects' design for the City College of San Francisco's (CCSF) new performing arts center.  As you can tell from the rendering, it's going to be a beautiful, contemporary structure with tons of green features and natural lighting.  Scheduled to be complete in Spring 2010, the performing arts center will target LEED Gold certification with some of the following features:

Google Project 10^100 Calls for Ideas to Change the World

Google has just announced a new project:  Project 10^100 (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th"), which is a global call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.  Here's how it works.  You submit your idea by October 20th.  Google will cull through everything and post 100 ideas.  Starting on January 27, 2009, the world starts voting on those to choose 20 semi-finalists.  From there, an advisory board will choose 5 finalists.  Then, Google will spend at least $10 M implementing those final 5 ideas. 

White Paper: Nutrition Labels as Universal Home Labels

We're very much intrigued by the white paper released yesterday by Michelle Kaufmann Companies.  Officially entitled "Nutrition Labels for Homes: A Way for Homebuyers to Make More Ecological, Economical Decisions," the white paper presents the case for a universal label for homes.  Note that last sentence, though.  This isn't a label for just green homes, it's a label for all homes.  It's a universal label to educate people on a home's sustainability (or unsustainability) profile.  Every home gets a label -- you can imagine the power this gives buyers and green home sellers. 

Let the Protector of Trees, Rest Now in Peace

I may not respond to all emails, but I certainly read them all.  It's a big part of the community that I feel with this website ... so when friend of Jetson Green, Brandon Tauscher, also President of Project Green Build, sent me the below story of his grandfather, I felt compelled to share it.  Howard Tauscher just passed away from cancer and other serious ailments.  Please feel free to read it and help out with Project Green Build's final tribute to Howard Tauscher if you like.*   I know I will. 

I'm a PC and I Design Green Buildings

Folks the media storm that started with the venerable Bill Gates and tired Jerry Seinfeld has just taken a new direction with the "I'm a PC" ads for Microsoft.  Check them out below, we have all three new videos embedded in this article.  As you watch, though, don't get distracted by the likes of Eva Longoria, Tony Parker, Deepak Chopra, Bernard Harris, Geoff Green, or even Pharrell, as tough as it is, because there's a green architect in the mix:  Edouard Francois.