Green Wednesday 2007.0530

[Kevin]

Dear Designers, Builders, and Dwellers,

Green Wednesday, by the editors of ArchitectureWeek, brings you weekly green design and building news from around the world.

In a story just breaking as this newsletter goes to press (button-press, that is), National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S. is reporting that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has said, on the record in an NPR interview to be aired tomorrow, that while he accepts that the climate of Earth is in fact warming, he disputes the idea that this global warming is necessarily a bad thing.

In a short segment aired already by NPR, Griffin says it is arrogant for any particular humans to determine for other humans that the current climate is superior to some subsequent climate which might be much warmer.

To frame the issue as Griffin does, as an issue of choice among humans, displays a titanic extreme of arrogance.

For the head of the world's largest civilian science agency to display such devastating ignorance - or such overwhelming politicization - on the outstanding scientific issue of our generation is just unacceptable.

This is not simply a matter of misspeaking in casual remarks, or of poor judgement by a high official. As previously reported, under Michael Griffin, NASA has substantially and deliberately lowered the priority of crucial earth monitoring satellite missions, in favor of pork-barrel show-treks off-planet.

U.S. Environment Satellites in Jeopardy - Scientific American, 2007.0502
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=us-environment-satellites&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters

As the world's pre-eminent scientfic satellite operator, NASA has a
vital role to play in the global monitoring, analysis, and response
to the climate crisis.

Please join us in calling for the immediate resignation of Michael
Griffin, and for a prompt redirection of NASA priorities toward the
vital space-science needs of a planet spinning into unprecedented
crisis, by signing this petition:

Resignation of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin
http://www.petitiononline.com/griffout/petition.html


Green and Sustainable Design and Building News This Week
--------------------------------------------------------
Learning from the Work - COTEnotes, 2007.0600
http://www.aia.org/nwsltr_cote.cfm?pagename=cote%5Fa%5F200705%5Fwatson

Design That Solves Problems for the World's Poor - New York Times, 2007.0529
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/science/29cheap.html?ref=science

Will Warming Lead to a Rise in Hurricanes? - New York Times, 2007.0529
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/science/earth/29hurr.html?ref=science

16 Cities to Get Financing to 'Go Green' - ArchitectOnLine, 2007.0529
http://www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?articleID=500781&sectionID=1012

Electrochromic Glass Is Revolutionizing Daylighting Control - ArchitectOnLine, 2007.0529
http://www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1550&articleID=489119

U.S. Rejects EU Emission Reductions - New York Times, 2007.0529
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Climate-Change.html

Can Science Outwit Storms Like Katrina? - New York Times, 2007.0529
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/science/29stor.html?ref=science

WHO Urges Smoking Ban in Public Places - Washington Post, 2007.0529
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901258.html

Michael Jantzen on His Lean, Green, Origami-Inspired M-House - New Consumer, 2007.0529
http://www.newconsumer.com/interviews/with/2315/

Europe Leads in Designing Buildings That Save Energy - International Herald Tribune, 2007.0529
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/29/business/bgarch.1-57933.php

Mining Solar Power in Oregon - HeraldNet, 2007.0528
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/05/28/100bus_solar001.cfm

Green Design Catches On in the Valley - The Desert Sun, 2007.0528
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070528/NEWS07/705280317/1006

Climate to Push Up Australian Power Costs - Reuters, 2007.0528
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD213805.htm

Rich Must Pay Bulk of Climate Change Bill - Oxfam - Reuters, 2007.0528
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL28355435._CH_.2400

The Energy Challenge Needs Engineers - Telegraph, 2007.0527
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/05/27/do2702.xml

Go Green: Work at the Office Not at Home - Telegraph, 2007.0527
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/05/27/eawork27.xml

Architect Hits the Roof over Plan to Turf Grass - Sydney Morning Herald, 2007.0526
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/architect-hits-the-roof-over-plan-to-turf-grass/2007/05/26/1179601729702.html

Green Architects Awarded for Their Work - Houston Chronicle, 2007.0525
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4836938.html

Costa Rica Aims to Win "Carbon Neutral" Nation Race - The Star (Malaysia), 2007.0525
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/25/worldupdates/2007-05-25T033509Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-299824-1&sec=worldupdates

UK "Living Laboratory" to Train Climate Experts - Reuters, 2007.0524
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSL2428593620070524

Study: Killer Hurricanes Thrived in Cooler Seas - CNN, 2007.0524
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/23/hurricane.study.reut/

Japan Urges Halving Emissions by 2050 - Sci-Tech Today, 2007.0524
http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=120006Q8143C

Hearst Tower - ArchitectureWeek, 2007.0523
http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0523/index.html
According to Foster + Partners, the tower was constructed
using 85 percent recycled steel and designed to consume
26 percent less energy than its conventional neighbors.
It is New York City's first new occupied office building
to have been given a LEED-Gold rating by the U.S. Green
Buildings Council.

AIA's Best Libraries 2007 - ArchitectureWeek, 2007.0523
http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0523/news_1-1.html
When Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie
opened his first public library in his hometown of
Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1883, the motto he had
inscribed over the door was "Let there be light."
Although he was probably referring to the enlightenment
of learning, his words resonate today in the importance
modern architects place on daylighting in libraries.

Catching the Winds of Change - Journal of Commerce, 2007.0523
http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id22380


Product News - Skystream 3.7T residential wind generator
http://www.ArchWeek.com/2007/0523/products_update.html

People and Places This Week - Seattle, New York, Napa, Plano, Denver,
London, Manhasset, Los Angeles, New Haven:
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2007/0523/people_and_places.html

ArchitectureWeek Jobs Board - free postings!
http://jobs.ArchitectureWeek.com/

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Topical eNewsletters by ArchitectureWeek
Green Wednesday - sustainable design and building news
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This Week's Quiz -
Recycle quiz:
a) Recycled aluminum requires about 5, 20, or 35 percent
of the energy required to produce virgin aluminum from bauxite?
b) Recycling one ton of paper saves what volume of landfill?
c) Construction and demolition waste constitute about
what percentage of the total solid waste stream in the
United States - 20, 40, or 60 percent?
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2007/0523/quiz.html

Architecture Answer - for last issue's quiz...
The Danziger Studio (1965) in Hollywood, California is a
modern and simple artist's studio and residence
consisting of linked cubes. This is an early work by a
designer who has since become famous for decidedly
un-cubic architecture. Who is this architect?
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2007/0523/answer.html

ArchitectureWeek Book Center - fresh redesign!
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http://www.architectureweek.com/books/browse.php?category=46
Sustainability & Ecology
http://www.architectureweek.com/books/browse.php?category=62

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Contents, RSS, and Surface of the Week -
Modern residential balconette doors and glazing (WI-040)
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2007/0523/contents.html

Five years ago in ArchitectureWeek:
Rewards of Unbuilding, by Michael Cockram
http://www.architectureweek.com/2002/0529/building_1-1.html

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Best wishes,

Kevin Matthews
Editor in Chief
ArchitectureWeek

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