A Simpler Solution

All eyes seem to be on President Obama these days. Everyone is watching to see how he will tackle the hurdles handed him by his predecessor: the deepening recession and banking crisis, climate change, energy independence, and the war on terror. Wondering can he reform the American medical system and re-establish or forge new relationships with the international community. Where does he stand on environmental matters? What will be his stance on science and green technology? Will he bury as heresy scientific results like George W.? The man is undoubtedly in a tough situation with many eager eyes pealed, and awaiting the change promised us.

All of these issues are important and each of us has our opinions as to what is most dire. There are no easy answers or quick fixes to any of these problems.

But I have a suggestion to help address a number of the issues facing us and one that, barring lobbyist wailings and state cries of, "Stop stepping on our toes!" should be simple to implement: Drastically improve the standards for all new construction projects and offer more incentives for renovation improvements to homes and businesses.

Most buildings these days are built with no forethought as to local weather patterns, resources consumed, or site integrity. This leads to homes and offices that often cost significantly more to maintain month-to-month due to higher energy bills because they are so inefficient. They lead to sick occupants because the materials used constantly give off fumes known to cause cancer upon long term exposure. They destroy habitats, bull-dozing majestic old trees and grass in order to make construction easier but then immediately turn around and plant saplings and water-intensive sod so that the site doesn't look like a mud pit once the building is occupied.

There are real, technologically superior ways to build. Green, or sustainable, architecture offers many simple alternatives that are completely sensical and economical.

Anyone interested can check out any number of books on the matter from their local library but the primary principles can be distilled as:

(1) Consider the building as part of the larger natural system so that the building is adequately cooled and heated but with minimal effort from energy intensive appliances. Think day-lighting, thermal mass, and natural ventilation.
(2) Take an integrated approach. Work with experts from all areas of the building sciences in order to appropriately design and size systems for efficiency.
(3) Reduce waste. Renovate or incorporate an existing structure. Recycle and reuse building materials. Design to a standard scale to reduce cut-off waste.
(4) Ponder the future. Use materials that can be recycled at the end of the life of the building. Take into account changing occupant needs like more bedroom space for kids or office space for a growing home business.

All we need is a nudge to encourage the building industry to explore outside of its comfort zone and to make use of these proven principles. And sometimes that nudge should come from the top. Here's looking to you, Obama.

We should have better quality standards for the buildings we spend our time in and those standards can help us conserve natural resources, cut greenhouse gas emissions, help us move toward energy independence, and show our willingness to work with the rest of the world to help save the one we share.