Green building & blogging comments

Lately I've taken to commenting on other people's blogs which, in turn, has led me to actually doing more posting on mine. :)

One of the blogs I commented on actually came to me by way of my Stumbleupon page. It was the guy writing the Vancouver Green Business Journal. It's a blog, and I like the focus of it, so I decided to read it. Of course I could not resist making a comment. You know how long-winded I get too, and the text in my comment probably exceeds the amount written in this new blog so far!

Hey, green ideas and technology... they're a passion of mine. :) So, here's the comment I made there:

This development appears to be more about livability rather than sustainability. Livability is certainly important, especially in dense urban settings.

If they are looking at creating a sustainable building, they need to look at the types of materials used, its energy footprint, etc.

The energy issue is one of the most important, in my opinion. While Vancouver may not have a cold climate, heating and cooling is required. One way to be environmentally responsible and reduce the energy footprint is to super-insulate. This reduces the amount of energy required to heat and cool.

It seems that architects love glass. It's great stuff, and I love it too, but unless it's low-e glass, or it's serving a passive solar purpose, I believe it should be reduced. Maybe if it's triple-pane, argon-filled, low-e glass you can have it floor to ceiling.

What about a green roof? These are a lot easier to do in a low-rise building. Didn't hear that mentioned. Green roofs help to insulate and moderate the temperature. No heat island there. Other benefits are helping to clean the air and reduce the amount of runoff heading right into the sewer.

As for the heating and cooling system in these new homes, are they geothermal? You have your heating and cooling all in one system. Being driven by electricity, and B.C. having a lot of hydroelectric power, there are no greenhouse gas emissions associated with them. These systems will lead to a home using more electricity than it ordinarily would, but by super-insulating, you reduce the size of the system required and the electricity too.

It seems that geothermal is also quite often being used with in-floor heating systems, which many agree provide a more comfortable heating solution than forced air. I've heard you don't need to keep the place as warm because it's usually people's feet that get cold, making them want to turn up the heat. Also, with in-floor heat, the temperature is more consistent.

How about the lighting? Is it all compact fluorescent? I know designers love halogen, a big energy waster.

Are there low-flow toilets and flow restrictors on the showerheads? This one is way ahead of current thinking on construction, but what are they doing with the grey water? (Showers and sinks, as opposed to black water from toilets). I've seen some articles about systems to use grey water to feed into an outdoor irrigation system, reducing the amount of treated water required. Furthermore, what about runoff collection systems that collect excess runoff from the green roof and channel that into an outdoor irrigation system?

You could write a book about the kinds of materials used in new buildings. Are they using wood floors? Bamboo? Is the carpeting made of natural fibres? I know I hate new carpets for the off-gassing. For the construction, are wood studs or steel studs being used? Wood is arguably a better choice. Just think about every system in the house. What better choices could be made?

I'm not really sure whether this new development incorporated these types of systems. The focus was on design, at least in this article, to the exclusion of all else. It is something that is starting to change, but it needs to happen much more rapidly. The focus needs to be on changing the laws relating to new construction. It's much easier to design a new building incorporating these systems than it is to retrofit.

And who at these development and design firms are talking to buyers? Do you think buyers would be willing to pay a bit more for a home knowing that it is going to have a much lower environmental impact and maybe save them money over the building's life?

Quality of life is more than just square footage, view and the proximity of your neighbours.

Whew! Did you make it through that without falling asleep and drooling all over your keyboard?

Another blog I have been reading (and occasionally commenting on) more often lately is that of Karina, a fellow TRU j-school grad. She leads an interesting life down there in Vancouver and has interesting and entertaining things to say. Evidently I'm not the only one who thinks so. Her blog gets a lot of visitors and they love to comment. I have to give her a lot of credit for being honest in her blog and saying a lot of things I probably wouldn't.

You can also head over to Karina's travel blog. This girl has done some serious travelling! I only hope my passport will get stamped as much as hers has.

My other commenting exploits are on various political blogs. I won't bore you with the details of my inane comments there. I am not sure what I'm really contributing in those comments other than being another one of the sheep.