Talk:Green Building

From SmarterCities

Please post your comments and responses about the Green Building description, data sources or survey questions here. We welcome your thoughts and opinions. CityWiki is open to diverse points of view; the opinions expressed by contributors, online commenters, and the editors are their own and not necessarily those of NRDC.

Historic preservation is a green building strategy. Through preservation, vast amounts of energy embodied in buildings is conserved, and existing infrastructure is used. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has pointed out that the greenest building is the one that is already built.

Suggested Survey Questions • Does the City include preservation of existing structures and infrastructure in their green building strategy? • What square footage of buildings has been preserved in the past five years. • How has existing city infrastructure contributed to growth and development, as opposed to greenfield development?

Talk of 'green building' often leaves out soul and puts us back in the same utilitarian mind state that made us as 'un-green' as we now are.

Want to feel what it is to be 'green'? Spend a 4 minutes looking at a tree, zooming in to look at what creatures are walking up and down or around the tree. Listen to the sound of the wind through its leaves. Watch its sway as it dances with the wind. Catch its scent, if it has one. Know that trees communicate with one another regarding predators. Know that they are releasing phyto-chemicals the effects of which we haven't come to appreciate fully. It is the impulse to preserve the life of trees like the one you are now in connection to that informs green building.

Let your soul guide you now.