[Greenbuilding] FW: Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Competition

Tue Feb 10 22:34:31 CST 2009

Well the good news is that the lifespan of the dysfunctional housing is
limited and we are looking at major shifts in demographics and population.
Boomers will decline from 25% to probably less than 15% in the next 10-20yrs
and aging populations will be clustered around services (primarily medical).

The challenges unfortunately will not be so much environmental as social and
economic - already we have mega walled 'retirement' communities being built
around the world (irrespective of local economies) and we are also being
inundated with new privatized senior care slum facilities.  

As a community we need to look at buildings responsibly from a social
perspective - can a building be retrofitted/renovated within a higher
density area to responsibly house people - if so the environmental benefit
is there - irrespective of the environmental improvements (that would be a
bonus). 

The suburban 4000 sq. ft. home is a derelict and it would be irresponsible
to even begin to motivate those owners to 'retrofit' and squander resources
to do so. We have gained some environmental responsibility in the last 30
years and that will be reflected in designs but it will not be the priority,
we need to relearn the social context and priority. Sounds harsh but I think
it is a realistic projection for the next 30 years.

John

JOHN SALMEN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

4465 UPHILL RD,. DUNCAN, B.C.  CANADA, V9L 6M7

PH 250 748 7672 FAX 250 748 7612 CELL 250 246 8541

terrain at shaw.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Jason Holstine
Sent: February 10, 2009 8:00 PM
To: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: [Greenbuilding] FW: Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Competition

FYI to those that may be interested....

-----Original Message-----

From: Zerofootprint Software Inc. [mailto:kelly.mcgregor at zerofootprint.net] 

Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 5:55 PM

To: 

Subject: Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Competition

Dear ,

We know how to build new buildings with a low carbon footprint, but little

attention has been paid to the thousands of existing structures worldwide

which are extremely inefficient and have a massive carbon impact. In order

to address the need to increase worldwide focus on retrofitting built

spaces, Zerofootprint has announced the Zerofootprint Building Re-Skinning

Competition. 

In North America alone, pre-existing structures account for 40% of all

greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama has pledged to "rebuild and

retrofit America", starting with 75% of federal buildings to save taxpayers

more than $2 billion USD a year. Existing building re-skinning capabilities

however are not enough to solve this problem. 

Zerofootprint aims to focus the world's best architectural and technical

minds on the issue, using the province of Ontario as a starting point.

Ontario has been chosen as the basis of the competition due to the

groundbreaking work already underway - including the City of Toronto Mayor's

Tower Renewal Project. In addition, the province of Ontario experiences

extreme climate conditions - from tropical weather in the summer months to

arctic climates in the winter months. Due to these extreme weather

variations, a re-skinning system developed and implemented in Ontario is

replicable in any climate region of the world. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Zerofootprint Building

Re-Skinning Competition, please do not hesitate to contact us at

skinning at zerofootprint.net. We have also setup a website where you can find

the latest Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Competition information, at

www.zerofootprint.net/reskinning.

Best regards,

Deborah Kaplan

Executive Director

_______________________________________________

Greenbuilding email list

     Environmentally-preferable design, construction, building elements

List info:
http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org

List email: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org

Managed by BuildingGreen, Inc. http://www.buildinggreen.com

      publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec

Hosted and archived by REPP / CREST http://www.crest.org

To get on the list:

  http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org

  or mailto:greenbuilding-request at listserv.repp.org?subject=unsubscribe

To get off the list:

  http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org

  or mailto:greenbuilding-request at listserv.repp.org?subject=unsubscribe