http://science.kqed.org/quest/2009/11/13/dispatches-from-greenbuild-2009-in-phoenix-arizona/ Explore science, nature and environment stories from Northern California and beyond with KQED’s multimedia series Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://science.kqed.org/quest/2009/11/13/dispatches-from-greenbuild-2009-in-phoenix-arizona/#comment-12272 henry@phoenix arizona Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:53:56 +0000 http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/?p=4283#comment-12272 nstead of "Main Street Green," a more apt name for the recent gigantic U.S. Green Buiding Council conference in Phoenix would have been "Green Building as Usual." Rather than being a formidable resource for the industry and a platform for transformational ideas, Green Build 2009 was an unfortunate lauding of the green building status quo. Educational sessions revolved around getting LEED points rather than the more pertinent discussion of how sustainable a project actually is and the even more pertinent sharing of lessons learned. Nearly every manufacturer in the building industry was praising the green qualities of their wares on the expo floor (including the Vinyl Institute!?). Time and again there was a DEFCON 2 disconnect between thought leaders (McKibben, Lovins, Brown, Hawkin, etc.) and the alleged action leaders in attendance. nstead of "Main Street Green," a more apt name for the recent gigantic U.S. Green Buiding Council conference in Phoenix would have been "Green Building as Usual." Rather than being a formidable resource for the industry and a platform for transformational ideas, Green Build 2009 was an unfortunate lauding of the green building status quo. Educational sessions revolved around getting LEED points rather than the more pertinent discussion of how sustainable a project actually is and the even more pertinent sharing of lessons learned. Nearly every manufacturer in the building industry was praising the green qualities of their wares on the expo floor (including the Vinyl Institute!?). Time and again there was a DEFCON 2 disconnect between thought leaders (McKibben, Lovins, Brown, Hawkin, etc.) and the alleged action leaders in attendance.

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