[Greenbuilding] what makes it green?

[Gennaro Brooks-Church]

>No, it's like saying that the hull is the most important part of the ship.  No perfect harmonious crew is of any use  if the hull is letting water in faster than it can be removed.   You are going to the bottom.  Try steering a boat with it sitting on the ocean floor.

The hull, the captain, the crew. You are still stuck in trying to say
that one thing is 90% and the rest is 10%. It is a dualistic view
instead of a holistic one.

If you are talking to somebody who knows nothing about building and
only has $100 to improve their house, then sure send them off to buy
caulking to seal holes so their home's energy efficiency improves. Yes
everyone needs to understand the crucial importance of energy
efficiency. We are coming out of a culture that blatantly wastes
energy and it is our downfall.

But to say that aesthetics, sourcing, cost, sustainability, biological
impact, community planning, regional culture, material embodiment,
chemical contamination, etc makes up only 10% (or whatever small sum)
and that energy is all important makes no sense to me. Why the hell
are we using windows if energy efficiency is 90% of the equation?

Like I said, if you are a technician in charge of that part of the
building then sure focus on the energy. Email in your lists of numbers
ad nauseam. But that kind of narrow focus is not the role of a green
builder who needs to see the larger picture. By narrow focus I'm not
saying it is bad. There are times in the building process when you
need to spend a lot of time analyzing the numbers in intricate detail.
Without getting the energy levels right you are guaranteed to fail.

But there are also times to focus on paint color, where the paint came
from, what ingredients the paint has, how the color will effect day
lighting, which in turn will effect number of light fixtures, which in
turn effects the heat load, and yes how the color will effect the
energy efficiency in the home. It all comes full circle in a holistic
way.

Gennaro Brooks-Church
Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
www.EcoBrooklyn.com




On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 11:04 AM, Corwyn <corwyn at midcoast.com> wrote:
>
>
> Gennaro Brooks-Church wrote:
>>
>> I couldn't disagree more. For me green building is about being
>> holistic. It is about harmoniously integrating the many elements
>> needed to make a better world and home, which green building
>> acknowledges as being one and the same.
>
> Not in my view.  Green building is about making a better home while making
> the world as little worse as you can in the process.  No building improves
> the land upon which it sits.  Especially if you consider its natural state,
> so you don't get to think that the place is a trash dump now, so building on
> it (and moving the trash somewhere else) is an improvement.
>
>> To say green building is all
>> about one of those elements, say for example energy, means you are
>> still stuck in the old scientific way of thinking where things are
>> measured linearly or hierarchically instead of in terms of how they
>> relate to each other holistically.
>>
>
> Which in fact no one is saying.  What they are saying is that if you don't
> consider energy, no amount of fiddling with the other 10% is going to make
> much difference.
>
>> Your statement is ridiculous. It is like saying the captain of the
>> ship is the most important person on the ship. Try steering a ship
>> with just the captain.
>
> No, it's like saying that the hull is the most important part of the ship.
>  No perfect harmonious crew is of any use  if the hull is letting water in
> faster than it can be removed.   You are going to the bottom.  Try steering
> a boat with it sitting on the ocean floor.
>
> Thank You Kindly,
>
> Corwyn
>
> --
> Topher Belknap
> Green Fret Consulting
> Kermit didn't know the half of it...
> http://www.greenfret.com/
> topher at greenfret.com
> (207) 882-7652
>
>