[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he (JIT) "just in time" business model is becoming a thing of the past *seriously*.

[coyote]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'B')ut heaven forbid anyone should reconsider their "we're doomed" beliefs.

I'm really sometimes tempted to just say "Ok, just go die then." Why should I try to convince anyone otherwise?

[Ayame]

FAO says second green revolution needed for developing world that refuses to do anything but **** like bunnies.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')
Worried over soil degradation and low water reserves in countries like India and China, the Food and Agriculture Organisation says a second green revolution with emphasis on preserving natural resources is the need of the hour to feed the world's growing population.

"We not only need to grow an extra one billion tonnes of cereals a year by 2050 but do so from a diminishing resource base of land and water in many of the world's region and in an environment increasingly threatened by global warming and climate change," he said.
source

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayame', 'F')AO says second green revolution needed for developing world that refuses to do anything but **** like bunnies.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

Yer, good luck, but a natural correction in numbers is a tad more likley.

[Daculling]

Off topic I know and maybe it's already been asked but... Raphael do you watch the Lost series and if you do, do you have any theories? No really, I want to know.

[BlisteredWhippet]

idiot.

Seattle Times broke a story 3 days ago... The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will chip in 147 million to wreak chaos and destruction on what remains of Africa's heritage of cultural, ecological and political sustainability....

Pig pile on the big money, everybody!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')"making wiser and more efficient use of the natural resources available to us".

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BlisteredWhippet', '[')b]The only official solution is more of the same, much more!

...100 million person forced migration - from Africa - because ASIA can't feed it.

I think we're in for some horrifying TV footage here kids...

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Raphael', 'R')ead my threads...that's all I talk about.

The reconciliation of science and religion using the swastika as interface...

[bape]

Found this cool article in Treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/ecoma... ) its about a competiton that mtvU and GE are running for undergrad and grad students. They have to come up with innovative and groundbreaking ideas for projects that would make their schools more environmentally responsible.

Here is a link to the site: http://www.ecocollegechallenge.com/
{Moved to environment forum by SPG}

[rostov]

The root of environmental problems is population footprint. I don't find anything on the site you quoted which addresses that.

May I reduce the number of staff and students within each of the participating institutions in that programme?

[Laughs_Last]

[deleted by author]

[Laughs_Last]

[deleted by author]

[Denny]

I was looking atht eonline edition of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, and they have quite a good section today on green architecture.

What I am wondering, is just why so much of the leading edge stuff is going on outside North America. Look back 100 years go, and it was American architects, along with structural engineers, who led the world in building innovations. It seems we are richer, smarter and more hard working than most of the world, but we are lagging in new technology applications.

I recall in college, way back in 1975, celebrating "Earth Day" for the first time, and it was the general feeling then that we'd be leading a revolution of sorts to protect the earth, but in reality, we have shown ourselves to be even more wanton with the earth's limited resources than the generations before us. Let's face it, we have been hypocrites in this matter. And, we have bred a new generation behind us and raised them to only extend our wasteful ways. Andk in technology, it seems we do everything for the buck first and only secondly to stretch our capabilities.

I do not know why this came about, it seemed that the turning point was when Ronald Reagan took office and belittled energy conservation. The whole thing has been put on the back burner since. Now we see the rest of the world overtaking us, so it seems.

[Kingcoal]

Building anything in America has become so incredibly expensive that cost is generally the overriding concern. Energy efficiency is the tenant’s problem. Also, Europe is most all 100% urbanized. Zoning is very strict, thus, cities are revitalized. Compare that to the US where cities are left to rot and development sprawls into farmland. The driver for that is costs. For example, where I live, they have been trying to revitalize the downtown. The problem is that there really isn't any reason why suburbanites, the ones with money to spend and skills to sell, would want to come downtown to work/live/shop. The solution was to build "fake" downtowns in the countryside, complete with shopping malls, office space, apartments, condos and houses. Building a synthetic downtown was cheaper than revitalizing the old, authentic downtown. It's also much safer because the "just add water" downtown is brand new and has no crime, drugs, etc, for the suburbanites to deal with. The real downtown is bankrupt, needing tax revenue and rife with crime. Also, generally American cities have expensive labor unions. Compare that to the countryside and it becomes a no-brainer for developers.

In Europe, using strict zoning, they make sure that the business development stays in the cities. Labor unions too expensive? Oh well, where else are you going to build?

Because of this, the types of buildings that are often used for office space in the US are different than those in Europe. A modern office in the US is generally in the suburbs or rural areas. A US office worker often has a nice view of farmland or a large parking lot from his window. In the US, a modern office building might take up 100 acres and be only one or two stories.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kingcoal', 'B')uilding anything in America has become so incredibly expensive that cost is generally the overriding concern.
..

For example, where I live, they have been trying to revitalize the downtown. The problem is that there really isn't any reason why suburbanites, the ones with money to spend and skills to sell, would want to come downtown to work/live/shop.

[Waterthrush]

Great article. I think that Republicans have so practiced the politics of demonization that every issue has become political - i.e. that even support for "green architecture" implies some implicit value for the environment and also some caution about fuel use. That cannot be conceded by Republicans. Also, there was a paragraph about the good work done by government agencies in passing regulations and planning benchmarks - quelle horreur! This so totally goes against 30 years of propaganda whereby anything originated by governments is wasteful and horrible.

See, the polarization has caught me up too. Six years ago I wouldn't so exclusively have targeted Republicans. This is how Bush and the Republican congress chose to govern. They kept their eyes shut to new realities and have made themselves an obstacle to anything environmentally positive and anything associated with the word conservation.

[oilfreeandhappy]

One of the architects that was acknowledged in this article is an American. The article is pretty vague on details as to why these buildings are considered "green". I don't doubt that they have their features, but I think you sell the US short. Have you read about the Solaire building in NYC? This may well be the "greenest" high rise in the world.
www.batteryparkcity.org/Concept/green/p ... re_c10.pdf