sustainable housing: Prince Charles Speaks Out
- 02/09/09 05:23 AM
Whatever you might think about Prince Charles his commitment to the environment is indisputable. Highgrove has been a model of sustainable agriculture for decades. He has funded many projects and foundations aimed at developing sustainable goals for many years. His philanthropy has mostly been overshadowed by Diana's because she was in the news but he has been a powerful voice for sustainable living for a long time. Last week he made a statement that got the attention of a lot more people than usual. TheGUARDIAN article gives an overview. At a conference in Mumbai the Prince said: "I strongly believe that … (5 comments)
sustainable housing: Cradle to Cradle Thinking
- 12/28/08 06:21 AM
In 2003 William McDonough wrote, "Why not shift the focus of green design from managing the environmental impact of a destructive system to creating buildings and materials that generate wholly positive effects for people and nature." He suggests that we might begin to consider a shift to good design rather than just green design. As an example, he points to a highly rated green built building in which the air quality was worse than the outdoor air. Although great pains had been taken to seal the building from outdoor air leaks and it had great insulation and was very energy efficient, no … (5 comments)
sustainable housing: Samuel Mockbee and an Architechture of Decency
- 10/08/08 07:33 PM
Given the current confusion in the housing market, I found myself looking for a different way to view the the context of the places we live. I picked up a book I have not looked at for a while RURAL STUDIO It tells the story of a teacher, his students and a poor community in Alabama. The teacher is Samuel Mockbee and the students are his architecture students at Auburn University. The introduction explains that Mockbee believes that his profession has an ehical responsibility to improve living conditions for the poor. To that end, he inspired his students to create real buildings … (3 comments)
sustainable housing: Sustainable Homes articles in Dwell
- 08/17/06 12:37 PM
DWELL magazine's September issue is on the newstand now. The cover story is entitltle "Green Goes Mainstream, Sustainable Homes of Tomorrow, Today".Inside the issue are several articles on green buildings including one featuring one of my favorite groups. Architechture for Humanity.The article is centered on their new book DESIGN LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN which features projects from designers around the world whose projects are working to show what we build is as important ans how we build it. Schools, temorary transitional housing for people displaced by many causes from war to famine to flood are included. Examples in the book include … (0 comments)
My blog is as much about a philosophy of life and living as it is about real estate as a business. E.F. Shumacher subtitled his book SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL "Economics as if People Mattered" In the real estate industry we realize that people matter and that where they live matters. We now also have a larger responsiblity, I believe, to get them to consider HOW they live. Everyone in the developed world using less energy and resources makes it possible for those who have access to neither to experience a better life and to make the difference between their being able to having a roof overhead or not or for their children to eat or not.
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