Re: [GBlist] Truly Sustainable

["Tom Thomas" <tomthomas@uswest.net>]

David,

Intriguing question.  I don't think it is possible to come up with a
single (even theoretically right) answer.  There will have to be a host of
assumptions.  For example, what is the trade off between a board foot of
lumber and an hour of carpenter labor.  What is the effect of scarcity on
price; if we have gobs now but it won't last long, is that cheaper than a
renewable but temporarily less plentiful resource.  There is no
theoretical or philosophical underpinning for this that I know of.  The
only crutches we have (maybe pun intended) are the market system and
administratively dictated prices.  Good luck and I'll be watching for
better answers.  I just know there is a Nobel prize in Economics in this
somewhere.

Tom Thomas
Macurco, Inc.
"Gas Detection"

David Wagner wrote:

> Let's pretend.  For the sake of (hopefully fruitful) discussion, let
> us pretend I live in San Antonio, Texas, (I do) and the economy has
> magically transformed so everything is priced proportional to total
> life-cycle costs and the scarcity of sustainable production rates (I
> wish).  I have a simple question.
>
> What would be the least expensive way to build a habitable structure?
>
> I also have more complicated questions.
>
> How many people could have their food, shelter, and employment
> provided indefinitely by one acre of land in this magical economy?
> How would this be done?
>
> Please note, six billion divided by the answer above must be less than
> the total acres of arable land on this planet.
>
> I am serious, and will build it.  I doubt they will come, but someone
> has to try.  I have been researching this for the past six months and
> have a few ideas, but would first like to see what y'all suggest.
>
> Appreciating All Suggestions
> -David
>
> P.S.  I cannot seem to access current archives for this list, so
> please pardon if I have violated list etiquette in any way, and let me
> know what is proper offlist.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> 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
> ______________________________________________________________________


______________________________________________________________________
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
______________________________________________________________________