December 27, 2010
A large number of the comments readers post online fall into two camps—those that dismiss sustainability and those that misrepresent it. The former group, echoing many conservatives, rejects global warming as a hoax and Al Gore as a con man, and the UN as a "propaganda machine." The latter group, following many liberals, offers the opposite view—that sustainability is "essential" but that nothing labeled “green” ever measures up. One suggests that sustainable design is too much, while the other implies that it’s not enough. Both extremes rage about greenwashing but with opposite motivation. As one reader asked recently,
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December 17, 2010
When buildings are no longer limited to manufactured products, will buildings feel less architectural and more atmospheric? The “state of the shelf,” a familiar term among product manufacturers, refers to constraints set by what materials are available on the market. Electronics makers, for example, often innovate by assembling readily available components in novel ways.
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December 11, 2010
As reported in today’s Washington Post, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros says that the biggest problem in housing today isn’t toxic loans, rampant foreclosures, or plummeting prices and sales—it’s the quality of construction. "The quality issue has been a serious problem in the home-building industry in the mid- and low price range for a long time," Cisneros says. "It was exacerbated in the boom because we outstretched the capabilities of the workforce." The issue isn’t just a concern for homeowners, he says. "When construction is poor and there are obvious signs of deterioration after 30 years or less," he says, “it impacts an entire neighborhood and an entire community. We are going to be building so much in the future, and we need to get it right."
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December 03, 2010
If you haven’t heard about Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), get ready. Increasingly, sustainable solutions are focusing on end-of-life opportunities to reduce waste, recover material, and alleviate landfills. EPR, or product stewardship, does this through political means, by legislating requirements that urge or force manufacturers to bear the burden of recovery. The idea is to hold the makers of things accountable for the impact of things once they outlive practical use—that is, to shift the responsibility away from consumers and communities.
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