[Strawbale] Anti Cement Folks / an unsustainable policy

[Alan Abrams]

      <There is such a strong thread of anti-cement sentiment running
through 

this group that I have reached the point where I question virtually all 

the shared "wisdom" about cement versus lime based stucco and plaster. 

On need only bring up cement to be attacked or at least corrected on the 

issue of what an undesirable material it is.>

 

 

there was a sobering (not to belabor the mugs and shot glass analogy, HW ;^)
essay in the March-April '07 issue of eco-structure that speaks to the
underlying issues expressed here.  (sorry, not in the e-s archives)

 

The essay, "An Unsustainable Policy," by Ujjval Vyas, a LEED accredited
attorney who consults on emerging construction practices, throws a
rainbarrel of cold water on the "overselling of sustainability."  Vyas
rejects sermonizing:  

 

"...as long as sustainable building advocates continue to moralize, the
business community cannot take sustainable building seriously, except as a
marketing ploy to manipulate public perception."  

 

PHEW!!!  

 

Rather, he calls for some serious objective study of costs and benefits of
green methods and materials:  

 

"Until sustainable building begins to take seriously the issue of building
performance (which is HW's focus)...it will remain more a plaything for
designers and conscience raisers rather than a set of solid business
practices."

 

Harsh indeed, but fundamentally true--if green is going to make a
significant contribution to mitigating climate change, it's got to satisfy a
range of basic needs, including the owner-builder's perceived "rational self
interests."

 

Alan Abrams