Well, I’m a little behind on posting because I’ve just moved from Dallas to Salt Lake City.  It was a good two-day road trip.  We saw lots of two things: sunny land and road kill.  We saw a few wind farms as well.  We started thinking about the drama over birds being killed from turbine blades.  Why doesn’t the same standard apply to cars?  Think of how many dead squirrels, deer, cow, dogs, birds, snakes, etc., one sees on the road.  It’s okay for cars to run over animals, but it’s not okay for turbine blades to catch the occasional bird?  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a problem either way and life is valuable, but I wonder about the sincerity of the anti-wind debate.  Any thoughts? 

I’ll be up and running soon, just looking for a place to live.  Right now, the blogger at Equity Green is putting me up. 

1. Clinton Climate Initiative Offers $5B to Green Municipal Buildings at Cities Nationwide.
2. Yahoo! Issues ‘Greenest City in America‘ Challenge with Reward of Hybrid Taxi Fleet.
3. $41B Health-care Construction Industry Going Green to Save Energy, Cut Infection Rates.
4. Nevada State Board Hopes to Change (Remove) Green Building Standard, Mislead About LEED.
5. Porous Paving Grows in Popularity as a Stormwater Management Solution. 
6. Ed Begley, Jr. Launches a Truly Unique Sustainable Living Website at FixingThePlanet.com. 
7. Green Building Studio being dubbed A Google for Green Building Products.
8. Commentary on Why Green Buildings Cannot Save the Planet.

The bloggers over at the Practical Environmentalist just bought a non-green building in Dallas for their business, Clean Air Gardening.  The 13,000 sf building was built in the 1960s and they have a budget of about $50,000 to make it green.  We’re talking LEED, Energy Star, etc., you name it, they want to go green in an economically pragmatic way.  I figure we can tap the wisdom of the crowds and find a way to help them out, citizen wisdom style.  Feel free to drop your ideas into the comments here, or go over to PE directly and leave a comment.  Also, if you’re a Dallas business and want to get involved helping them do their thing, make sure to let them know. 

Already, PE seems to have this situation under control.  I like that they are signing up with Green Mountain Energy, using low-VOCs inside (good for indoor air quality), replacing old toilets with more water-efficient ones, adding a rainwater cistern to avoid using new water for landscaping, and replacing the door with a more energy-efficient set up.  Here are a few additional suggestions I have:

• Consider a commercial-grade energy audit to determine where you may be losing air or energy.  Use that information to seal up cracks and fix stuff as needed (which will allow you to rely less on the dated HVAC system). 
• Like you say, go with the Commercial Solatube lighting, if possible.  The more natural light, the better.  Why pay for light when the sun gives it away for free? 
• For the interior design, use low-VOC carpets tiles and adaptable workstations/furniture from a company like Haworth (big-time commitment to recycled and sustainable products).  Haworth has a strong Dallas presence. 
• Before making the investment in solar, try using a thermal energy storage product (like the ones offered by Dallas-based Trinity Thermal) that captures cheaper energy during off-peak times for use during more expensive peak periods.  This can contribute to LEED certification and has good $$ benefits. 
• If you’re renovating the exterior, continue using a light color to reflect heat from the building.  Also, landscape in ways to shade the hottest parts of the building.  You guys are experts here, but natural landscaping will help with water conservation, too. 

That’s what I have so far, but I’m sure there are Dallas experts out there waiting to get your business and showcase their products.  Good luck!

I love blogging.  I really do.  But maybe it’s because I look at my own blog everyday, I don’t know, but I’d like to mix it up a little bit.  Is that taboo for a fledgling blog?  What you see is 100% home-job by me.  I worked up the banner, picking through Photoshop the best I know how.  The sidebar content is 100% me, too.  Here are the constraints: (1) I’m still going to use Typepad, (2) I’m not going to hire anyone or pay anyone (at least not right now), and (3) that’s it.  I don’t really enjoy widgets, either.  I’m thinking about changing to the format with posts on the left and the two sidebars on the right.  Any thoughts?  I’m also thinking about a banner redesign.  Maybe a new logo?  It’s going to be consistent with the underlying framework of Jetson Green:  modern + green, with a business perspective.  Any thoughts?  Cool ideas?  Should I just keep it the way it is?  Be gentle…

I just wanted to kick out a shout to the blog Eikongraphia and Michiel van Raaij for working hard to compile a list of the Top 25 Architecture Blogs on the internet right now.  I’m pleased to announce that Jetson Green occupies the #9 position on the list.  Without having perfect access to all sorts of information, it’s difficult to make a list of top blogs and not receive some criticism, but I think Michiel did a good job.  Here’s a list of the Top 15 Architecture Blogs:

    1. BLDGBLOG
    2. Things Magazine
    3. Pruned
    4. Archidose
    5. Plataforma Arquitectura
    6. Tropolism
    7. Dezeen
    8. Edgar Gonzalez
    9. Jetson Green
    10. Subtopia
    11. Eikongraphia
    12. Anarchitecture
    13. Noticias Arquitectura
    14. Mirage Studio 7
    15. Brand Avenue

If you’re an architecture fan, feel free to drop by any one of these quality sites.  I have many of them plugged into the feed right now.  But I must admit, I’m not an architect.  I am a construction and design enthusiast.  I hear architects say all the time, "Developers should go to architecture school."  Jetson Green is my form of research and school–the more I blog, the more I learn, and I rely on emails, comments, and trackbacks to understand the important principles relating to the architecture of sustainability. 

::UPDATE:: The list was revised to separate out individual and collaborative blogs.  Jetson Green moved up to #7 on the individual blogs list.  The above list is still the first attempt.