These “green giants” encourage us to believe that the building industry has this all figured out and we’ll be enjoying “Zero Energy” living in McMansions with solar panels and atrium entries. We will (and must) continue to understand more and more profoundly and consciously: Energy is precious.

The Zombie building industry hopes to resume life by building a better version of what we don’t need. It’s time we responded to what’s different.

Keeping Your Cool | Use less. Save more. Live comfortably.

Here’s a thought exercise: Imagine 147 fit athletes pedaling bikes uphill – call them our energy slaves – to create the energy we depend on to live.

We like things simple. And relatively immediate. Safe is nice too. Sacrifice? Hopefully not.
That’s what makes an abstract idea like climate change and the prospect of literal sea changes such an uninviting topic. The scale …

I was born in 1953. Growing up, we mostly drank milk and water. Sometimes Kool Aid. And having a glass of orange juice was a treat (and it was a small glass!). Having a coke …

There can be a big difference between what people claim and the actual facts about that claim. Big surprise!
That’s why we have scales. And rulers and levels. And now we are using a new set …

Stephen Chu is a funny guy! And really smart. What a relief to have him as our Energy Secretary.
He was on The Daily Show the other night and, beside speaking forcefully for the need to …

I’ve spent my career making beautiful spaces. “Making good homes better” is how I like to sum it up.
I think that’s still what I do, and want to do, but what makes a good home …

Buildings last a long time. Within their forms are embedded the cultural assumptions of the time of their creation. Just thinking about those avocado green kitchen appliances from my youth makes me cringe! And what …