In this short video, the award-winning and inspirational architect Ed Mazria briefly summarizes one of the clearest paths to fighting global warming I have ever seen. Its called the 2030 Challenge and it has been adopted by the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
There is an even better video here, click on the Ed Mazria Plenary link. There he lays out in more detail how by 2030, 3/4 of all built square feet will be new or renovated from today's built environment.
I haven't blogged much about green building, partially because I believe green building projects get tons of coverage. However, even with all of the momentum moving in the press, the total number of green buildings being built is quite small.
Ed makes a great point about the fact that building is a local issue, and we don't need federal mandates in order to achieve our goals. I believe that's true, but I have a bit of an issue with Ed's contention that we need "only a little bit of help" from the federal government. He calls for raising tax credits from 30% to 50% and lifting caps on the amount, increasing tax deductions from $1.80 to $2.75/sf if you meet the challenge, and he goes on. While I would love for the federal government to basically double all tax credits and incentives for efficiency and renewable energy, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
I think renewable energy will get a few small victories in 2008, and hopefully see greatly increased support under a new presidency (hopefully Obama!).
Now, although I don't write about green building as often, let me stress that I believe green building (to the degree of the 2030 challenge) should be adopted immediately. To put it blatantly, I basically think not doing it is just plain stupid.
When I think about how many of these green issues are local, it makes me encouraged that there are great strides being made by local politicians in pockets of the country. Hopefully, this will spread across the nation. And maybe someday I will be in one of their positions... maybe not.
