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A quick partial overview of green building techniques

(Part of the No Sweat Solutions series.)

What follows is a table with a (very) incomplete list of means of reducing material intensity in building. These means alone could reduce the impact of constructing buildings by about 75 percent or more, and thus greenhouse-gas emissions from construction and destruction of buildings by about half.

Since we have green builders on this site, I invite additions to the list, especially if you can cite sources for impact reduction. I also invite comments on whether any of these are not as green as they appear at first blush.

Note that operations account for a great deal more of the impact of building than construction. So these are green only to the extent they do not compromise operating efficiency.

Table below the fold.

Can we live with skyscraper farms?

I find ideas like this stimulating, if only because it shows some creativity: skyscraper farms.

Basically, the idea is to build multi-story enclosed greenhouses near the cities where most food is consumed, thus reducing the acreage required to grow the crops and the energy needed to transport them. Some of the work done by Columbia University suggests the "vertical farm" could produce at least twice as much energy as it consumes from burning the biomass wastes.

Umbra on bicycle tires

Dear Umbra, Is there such a thing as recycled bicycle tires? I have looked and even asked a friend’s husband who wrenches in a local shop. He was not aware of any. I think because people ride their bike they automatically assume they are Earth-“friendlier” than others. But I go through two sets of tires […]

Green polls reveal lazy bastards

Joel Makower has a fascinating roundup of recent green poll results. He concludes: So, what do we know that we didn’t know pre-Earth Day? Not much. It’s business as usual: Americans want clean, affordable, and care-free solutions to climate change and every other environmental challenge. But don’t ask most of them to change their habits, […]

Plans to boost energy efficiency start getting traction in Congress

What’s not to love about energy efficiency? It’s the paradigmatic win-win scenario — save money, protect the climate and broader environment, and reduce reliance on unsavory sources of energy, all in one fell swoop. As efficiency guru Amory Lovins puts it [PDF], “Using energy more efficiently offers an economic bonanza — not because of the […]

Environmentalists need to fundamentally change their climate change strategy

Pro-fossil fuel forces are pursuing an effective strategy that engages the attention of climate action advocates and obscures the vigorous expansion of fossil fuel supply now underway.

Barack Tease

Obama pledges to save the civilized world with baby steps “This is our generation’s moment to save future generations from global catastrophe,” declared Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a speech on Friday. He heralded a “grassroots effort to make America greener and end the tyranny of oil.” And just as greens were up on […]

Vote Surly, Vote Often

Aluminum smelting defining Iceland elections You no doubt know that Iceland’s elections are coming up on May 12. But here’s something you may not know: the country’s aluminum-smelting boom has become a key issue in the race. With three smelters up and running and three more planned, fans and foes alike are fired up. A […]

The Gothman Prophecies

New York City mayor unveils ambitious sustainability plans New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used Earth Day to announce plans to make his burg bloom. The comprehensive “PlaNYC” outlines 127 green dreams, including a congestion charge for lower Manhattan that would — like programs in London and Singapore — see drivers cough up a fee […]

Will Google Maps or Mapquest be the first to help folks travel green?

Frustrated yet again trying to use Google Maps and Mapquest to figure out a bike route to someplace I've never been, I had a sudden realization -- these folks are missing a huge business opportunity.

One that you can help them recognize.