2009 will be the new "green" year (really)

2009 will the New “Green” Year (really)

Dear friends and colleagues,

It is nice to have some good news considering all the turmoil as of late. A new year and the economic shift that we are going through provides us with a unique opportunity to reevaluate how we live our lives. Because I come from the building world, I see an extraordinary amount of reevaluation and evolution in our living and built environments. As a refocus on infrastructure is in the works, our homes and businesses will be at the forefront of this change. At the center of our relationship with the built environment is a new understanding of how we use energy, and how our health and well being is effected.

Each of us has a stake in the success of the “green” building movement because of our dependence on buildings. Of course you don’t need to know everything about being “green” (I don’t at least) but you can take the right steps. Many people I have talked to have felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information out there. It is important to follow a path that focuses on results, and leaves open the varied ways to get there. I am starting a newsletter that will be available at baosol.com/connect, to write about new thinking in sustainable building (hint: it’s not just about light bulbs and solar panels), and to add a little more fuel to the fire of the sustainable movement. The first edition will be about why your house “sucks” (outside air at least).

I started to do sustainable building consulting because of the need for the larger population to have access to clear, reliable, and appropriate information. Buildings are the places in which we spend a majority of our time, and they have a profound effect on the greater environment. In this spirit I have developed the Seven Steps to a Sustainable Building (7sustainable_steps.pdf) which is available at my web site baosol.com.

These steps were born out of the hundreds of conversations I have had over the past years about "green" building, the classes and conferences I have attended, and most importantly the last 14+ years I have lived with my wife in a near-zero energy home (before the “near-zero” vernacular was invented). We have personally experienced how doable this really is, and realize the potential for many others to do the same. Over the next few months each of the steps will be expanded, and how they are interrelated will be explored. The Seven Steps are intended to help you clarify what sustainable building and living really is about. When we look at our environmental impact, for instance, all those green materials don’t hold a candle to energy efficiency. Interdependent design will likely dominate our thinking on how to build and thrive in this new century.

Please take a moment to read and think about the Seven Steps and how you can engage with our new green year, and then pass it on to a friend. There is a lot to celebrate and a lot to do, best of all we can do it together (and I’ll stop using parentheses). Keep in touch and Happy New Year!

-Andrew Michler

Baosol Sustainable Building Consulting