Greenbuilding Archive for April 2001

Thanks to the organizers and presenters who made EnvironDesign 5 a
brilliant success. The 800+ attendees were treated to inspiring
presentations by all key speakers. Thanks to MBDC for a well-designed
conference, in all respects (except possibly HVAC). Special recognition to
David Orr and Janine Benyus for their learned, memorable and moving
presentations. Compelling passion.

Here are a few personal highlights;

Michael Ray:
- how does a tree withstand a hurricane? With flexibility, deep roots and
the help of the protective forest around it. Homo Sapien can do the same,
figuratively.

Michael Braungart and William McDonough:
- go beyond "less bad" to "more good"
- eco-effective not eco-efficient
- waste = food
- Look not at what is wrong with existing -- look to create a new product
that is right.
- Be driven by hope, not guilt.
- Celebrate your mediocrity...dare to be mediocre
- it's better to be slightly right than exactly wrong
- PVC is primitive technology
- who holds ultimate responsibility for a ship's passage across the sea?
The ship's designer.
- I am not content.

John Elkington:
- the triple bottom line - as eloquent and powerful as ever
- 7 percent of European taxes go to green issues. (Bush and Chretien, take
note)
- move towards more sustainable chains of value creation.

Peter Pestillo (Visteon):
- we have, for many years, used waste as a measure of wealth

Andrew Mangan (Applied Sustainability):
- think of 100 percent product rather than zero waste.

David Orr:
Dr. Orr's narrative was a rich and deeply interwoven look at the world
through a wise man's eyes. I gave up taking notes, listened, applauded and
bought the recording.
(Sin, Redemption and Forgiveness)
- if brute force doesn't work, you're simply not using enough of it -
that's the design template for the industrial world
- ripples of disorder...caused by bad design
- asphalt isn't forever
- we will build, in our lifetimes, more buildings than have been built all
the way up to the 20th century
- we shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us (Winston Churchill)
and much more.

Janine Benyus:
- (roughly quoting W.B. Yeats), the world is full of magic things, waiting
for our senses to sharpen...so that we may see them
- organisms are the embodied wisdom of living elegantly in one's place
- the environment is the ultimate judge of the products we make
- salmon don't silt their own streams
- a Hummingbird visits 10,000 blossoms every day. It  essentially rebuilds
its body daily, from nectar. And, in so doing, pollinates the flowers it
visits, thereby safegaurding not only its own future, but that of 10,000
other organisms, as well.
- gratitude tempers greed.
- view nature as a teacher, not a warehouse.

A profound event.

See you there, next year. (www.environdesign.com)


______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________