Well folks, I sure didn't expect to bump into such an interesting discussion on green building on TV tonight, one that could intrigue a real estate professional and our clients, one looking to the future and noting trends in our industry in terms of sustainable design.

But I did, and I even took a few photos as I watched Charlie Rose moderate a discussion on sustainable design. Most interesting to me, and possibly to you, was that this discussion focused on commercial and residential buildings. ..

The discussion took place right here in North Carolina where sustainable innovation is spurring the imagination in the real estate industry these days. In fact, WNC Healthy Built Homes® are in huge demand. We are expecting 400 of them to be built in the Asheville area and we don't know if  that will half cover the demand because "green" has gone mainstream and smart buyers/investors want energy savings and efficiency these days.

 The panel discussion included Dick Jackson, MD,  (right)  who is the former Director of the Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/Environmental/  in Atlanta, Ga., and is currently a professor of environmental health at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Marvin Malecha,  NC State College of Design Dean Marvin Malecha, president-elect of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and noted architect Thom Mayne, who  is  the founder and design principal of Morphosis, a Santa Monica-based architectural office, and a co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture. The discussion was "red hot" and GREEN. It spotlighted experts whose vision and projects bring to the forefront "green" designs in sync with sustainable design practices, and who gave me an information to help me (all of us) predict future trends in real estate . It was gratifying to "listen in"  on the discussion and to verify my intuition that  it is possible for sustainable design theories and "green" (environmentally friendly) design practices to come together in the architectural world.

As New Raleigh  pointed out, " The conversation was engrossing, the crowd was ecstatic . . .Mayne offered the reconciliation of design with green practice through smart aesthetics with green fundamentals built in. He underscored that economic incentives where important to get wide spread adoption of best practices, and cited the irrelevance and narrow focus of LEED standards, such as points for bike racks but no points for good bike paths.  . . .Dean Marvin Malecha [offered] the holistic design perspective that the College of Design works . . . to imbue into its students.  [and] practical things that every individual can do to decrease the impact of their life- things like living close to your work, building and landscaping in ways that are sensitive to the orientation of the sun...[and] Dr Dick Jackson was adamant about the human side of sustainability.  "

Striking to me was the comment by Mayne, "...anyone can make a residence extremely energy efficient and there's no excuse not to do it..." Isn't he one of the architects involved in Brad Pitt's New Orleans Project about which I wrote not long ago?

So here's a question I'd like to put to the panel:

How do real estate professionals begin to participate in discussions about design thinking as collaborative partners?

If this photo(to the right)  is any indication of their response to that question, it could be a real doozie... (I'm smiling)

but maybe some of you could help them out.

Let me know what you think.