Green Guru Gone Wrong

I just finished a very interesting article in Fast Company magazine about the success and failure of the green guru, architect William McDonough.

I met Mr. McDonough at an AIAS convention when I was president of my chapter many years back. He had an unbelievably inspiring personality with grand visions of a sustainable future way before it was cool to be green.

He is a big dreamer with big ideas. Great ideas in fact. World-changing ideas. According to this article though, execution has not been his strong suit.

From FastCompany.com:

Green architect William McDonough has been hailed as a water-walking visionary. The truth is far more complicated.

The paparazzi should have been hiding in the hedges that evening. Cindy Crawford, Goldie Hawn, John Mayer, and some 50 other Hollywood and media types were gathered in the Malibu home of one of L.A.’s biggest power brokers, Universal Studios president Ron Meyer, and his wife, Kelly. The guest of honor at this 2005 dinner party: William McDonough. “He is,” Kelly Meyer tells me later, “the environmental architect of our time.”

Read the entire article online here.

Learn more about William McDonough here.

Vacuum-Insulated Glass

From EcoHomeMagazine.com:

Vacuum glazings could change the way high-performance windows are manufactured and lower their costs if Guardian Industries’ research efforts prove themselves out. Double-pane, vacuum-sealed glass units with low-E coatings could achieve R-10 or better, and perform at levels now only attained by triple-pane, low-E glazings that rely on sophisticated gas fillers for much of their performance.

Read more.

Walk the Walk

From AIA.org:

The time for talk is over. Green design should be a reality for everyone in every region and every industry, starting today. That’s what our Walk the Walk campaign is all about.

Many are unaware that buildings and their construction count for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumed in the U.S. each year. Globally, this percentage is even higher.

The American Institute of Architects is committed to the goal of reaching at least a 50 percent carbon emission reduction by 2010 and carbon neutral buildings by 2030. We can achieve that goal through the support of our architect members, who stand ready to provide invaluable counsel on re-claiming brownfields, renewing urban areas, and re-shaping the current landscape toward a more renewable future.

We invite you to join us on this journey toward a more sustainable future. Choose your pathway and learn. The next step is up to you.

Westchester Green Link of the Week: Walk The Walk