San Francisco Green Festival I attended the San Francisco Green Festival over the 11/5-11/6 weekend and was inspired by the turn-out. It is a beautiful sight to witness speakers, sponsors and attendees coming together from far and near to support their shared vision of a sustainable, humane world. I had long ago logically convinced myself of the rightness and inevitability of a greener economy. After attending the Green Festival, I truly feel it and believe it.

My initial purpose was to network and meet others involved with socially responsible investing, but I found myself most captivated by a presentation from an environmentally/permaculture minded architect demonstrating use of straw bale and salvaged materials to build beautiful homes and commercial building according to "solar aware" design. Here is a link to the Arkin Tilt design firm's site. Please peruse it and make sure to read the goals section as well as view the photos of past projects. Some of these projects meet the Department of Energy's (DOE) Zero Energy Home designation- quite an accomplishment! According to Megatrends 2010 (which I recently read and will soon be posting a review of under the Books heading), "buildings squander 39 percent of total U.S. energy, more than factories and automobiles. The construction industry accounts for 40 percent of the waste in U.S. landfills."

Call it a paradigm shift... After hearing the presentation, it's hard to believe all builders don't apply at least some of the design approaches used by Arkin Tilt. These aren't arcane "tricks"; it is common sense based on sound principles. For example, taking advantage of the fact the undesirable Summer sun (think air-conditioning costs at today's - or tomorrow's - energy prices) rolls high in the sky and that the desirable Winter sun stays low on the horizon, one can design roofs and windows to work together to maximize cooling or heating from passively shunning or welcoming the "free nuclear reactor" at the center of our solar system. Here is a DIAGRAM from the site that illustrates application of this simple principle, combined with use of thermal mass provided by a rammed earth wall at the center of the building. Another example is the re-use of discarded wood from "tear-downs", much of this wood is old growth and of higher quality than the 2nd and 3rd growth wood being logged and brought to market today. Re-used materials such as discarded railroad beam and rails also add character and charm to the building and pay homage to local history.

Closer to my own circle, my friend and neighbor Kenrick Fischer, owner of Illuminated Landscapes by Design, is currently researching Zero Energy solar systems to power exterior lighting systems he creates. Another friend who works at Autodesk informed me the company plans to stress eco-friendliness and energy efficiency in the design tools it provides to architects and industry. He passed along to me the following piece Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz published in Forbes. Hybrids are back-ordered at the moment and auto giant GM, that failed to become a leader in that space - can you Hummer "Taps"?, is rumored to be a take-over target for Hybrid-wise Toyota. It can't be long before the a similar play unfolds in the building trades and real-estate markets where the first movers towards supporting or deploying green building concepts outperform and dominate that space. To mangle one of our President's favorite expressions: you're either with it or against it!


This entry was also published on InvestedInterests.  ¶ 11:52 PM