Green building expo highlights fossil fuel

EVER wonder how much fossil fuel your garden consumes? Probably not, but in this day of rising energy costs there’s talk about whether truly “sustainable” landscaping can be achieved without oil-based products.

It’s a provocative idea that landscape architect Owen Dell, an expert on sustainable landscapes, will discuss at Saturday’s fourth annual Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo (Altbuild), at Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Air Center. He is founder of Fossil-Free Landscaping in Santa Barbara, thought to be the first working garden group to explore author and oil expert Richard Heinberg’s notion that “if you can’t do it without fossil fuel, by definition, it ain’t sustainable.”


Dell is one of the featured speakers at the free green building expo, which will have 150 booths offering environmentally sensitive interior design and construction-related products and information. There will be hands-on exhibits and demonstrations of such things as drip irrigation, composting, worm bins and living roofs (covered with plant material).

A water pavilion will host workshops on sustainable landscaping, solar fountains and gray-water options. Dell will be conducting a watershed workshop in addition to the session on “Fossil-Free Landscaping: Your Survival Kit for the Coming Oil Crash.”

LA Times