Air conditioning is like a globally addictive drug: the more we use it, the more we need it. Its voracious energy demands contribute to the climate disruption that is heating up the planet. That’s only one of several reasons NOT to turn down your thermostat, if your house isn’t getting as cool as you would like. Take 5 minutes to read several practical reasons from The Washington Post that hit closer to home — and our pocketbooks — along with other ways to stay as comfortable as possible through the heat. 

Electronic waste (Image: http://www.sonomacountywaste.com/)

I always find myself somewhat repelled by the word consumption. My reaction comes from reading novels set in earlier times, when it was used to mean “a wasting disease” (usually tuberculosis). Earlier today I watched two short videos that produced the same reaction. Appropriately enough, they were about consumption as we more currently define it, “the using up of a resource.”

In climate parlance, consumption-based emissions are those resulting from the economic activity required to meet demand for goods and services (www.stats.govt.nz). The connection between the archaic and the contemporary definitions? Waste. Our culture — i.e., each and every one of us — extracts resources and then dumps a large fraction of them after a one-way trip; sometimes a very short trip.

These two videos tell this story more effectively in about 10 minutes than an entire textbook might. Highly recommended food for thought, and for sharing: Happiness and Wake Up Call.

120 green building leaders and innovators in the built environment gathered last weekend at BuildWell 2014 in Sausalito, CA. Kudos to Ecological Building Network‘s Bruce King, co-producer Sarah King, and their dedicated band of volunteers for producing a brilliant event. The speaker line-up included keynotes from Architecture 2030‘s Ed Mazria, science wiz John Warner from the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, and ecological footprint creator Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network — visionaries all.

Highlights — besides the keynotes — included talks by at least two dozen inspiring individuals. Organizations represented included the USGBC, International Living Future Institute, Healthy Building Network, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, the US EPA, University of San Francisco, University of Santa Clara, BuildingGreen Inc., Gensler, Arup, Webcor Builders, Pankow Blue, and a host of other leading AEC firms.

Hosted at the gorgeous Cavallo Point resort (a star in its own right), this intimate meeting of the minds was the antithesis of the Greenbuild crush, where you’re lucky to spend 90 seconds with your favorite gurus. With most of the participants staying on premises, there were countless impromptu meetings and gabfests on porches, in hallways, and by the firepits.

Invite yourself to BW16 — sign up for the mailing list at http://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/contact.

Better yet, join the organizing team or become a sponsor for this exclusive event!

BuildWell 2014 Attendees at Cavallo Point, March 22, 2014