The Challenge

The challenge that the built environment faces is not constructing with LEED design, that is being increasingly normalize in the industry and by codes like the San Francisco Green Building Ordinance. Rather it’s looking at the building as a whole system, not just stopping after the building is constructed and annually checking that the windows still seal properly. It’s making sure that features like the interior/exterior lights are compact florescent and are timed to turn themselves off; that low flow toilets are standard and innovative engineering is utilized to redistribute waste heat generated from tenant computer networks. It’s creating lease agreements that have mandatory energy saving requirements, like shutting down the computers at night. Energy efficiency is still the lowest hanging fruit, and San Francisco’s latest task force is scheduled to address it with their recommendations in June.
As we face what are clearly uncertain economic times, cities like San Francisco are responding to the message from Washington and attempting to put the systems in place to support a new energy infrastructure. We are a nation in peril, tied to a market that is failing, and a climate that is changing. The incremental changes that policies like the Green Building Ordinance address are helpful, but they are not enough. Greening America is being implemented in every segment of our market economy, but it is not enough. We must change our behavior before the effects of global climate change force it. The time is now; and the message is delivered daily, but like a nation of sheep, we wait for the invisible hand to point the way.