Green Building in the European Union

New York Times article on legislation requiring very energy efficient building in various countries. Consider how many high-performance buildings Europe already has, and then imagine how much additional innovation this will drive.

Green buildings won't save the planet

A great TED talk on architecture by Joshua Prince-Ramus. I wish more architects would watch this video and actually act on what Joshua is saying.

Builders and the public are tired of waiting. Watch the video here.

How the building industry really works...or doesn't

"In contrast, the AECO industry seams to employ the “convince-build-pray” modus operandi. The designers convince the client by demonstrating a few selected performance aspects (usually cost and image) he/she can understand – but the designers cannot guarantee – that the building will work to the
client’s expectations; the builders build the building, and then everyone awaits to see how the building will work once it is occupied and in use. They hope for the best, but fear the worst."

Quote from Vladimir Bazjanac,of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and head of the technical advisory group for buildingSMART from this article.

CutMyTimber : Digital Manufacturing: Paperless from FIM model to CNC mac...

Here is a great example or integrated design and manufacturing. The video is only 12 minutes long and is a great case study for real integrated project delivery.

Global House Prices

Interesting chart for those of us in the building industry. Do consider the fact of how much innovation there has been in the German high-performance building industry in a falling market over the last 10 years. The question that needs to be asked - Does a booming housing market (read bubble) support or hinder innovation?
Chart Source: IMF

GSA Pushes For Reforms to Green Bulding Certification

Finally! And I really like the quote from the GSA official, "One of the things that I tease the USGBC about is that they really need to re-brand from ‘Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’ to ‘Leadership in Energy and Environmental Performance,’ and they are picking up on that,"

Jack Dangermond of ESRI on the future of GIS data

A great video interview by the CEO of ESRI showing the incredible potential of the web as a platform for geospatial data and democratized urban planning and design. If I could just convince more gamers to watch this and work towards applying gaming technologies to integrating geospatial and CAD data in a great user interface.

Is Modular Construction a greener way to build?

Yale and the University of Virginia released some preliminary findings and expect to release a full report later this year. Although I look forward to reading the full report I still have difficulty understanding why this hasn't been studied before? In the era of total-cost-of-ownership and environmental footprint why hasn't the environmental impact of different construction methods received more R&D dollars?

Minergie and Swiss high-performance building

The Swiss embassy in Washington DC will be hosting another green building event on September 8th focused on high-performance building and the Swiss Minergie performance standard. A quick video of last year's event is available here. Switzerland is increasingly recognized for the leadership demonstrated by making high-performance building almost standard practice. A great report from MIT can be found here comparing high-performance building in the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany. Information on ongoing research is available here. Switzerland recently become the most expensive country for construction. A new linkedin group for Minergie and high-performance building just formed - do join us!