Why I Stopped Calling It “Green Building” and Started Getting More Clients
Last Tuesday I’m sitting across from this woman Sarah at a coffee shop in Boulder, and she drops this line that nearly made me choke on my espresso: “I want…
Why Most “Nature-Inspired” Buildings Are Environmental Disasters
Got a call last Tuesday from a homeowner in Nederland who’d been scrolling through design blogs and fell in love with these massive indoor living walls. You know the ones…
Why Most “Green” Building Is Just Expensive Virtue Signaling (And What Actually Works)
Three months ago I’m sitting in this little coffee shop in Flagstaff, scrolling through my phone looking at another “revolutionary” green building product announcement – you know how it is,…
Why Most American Cities Are Built Backwards (And How I Learned This the Hard Way in Phoenix)
You know what really gets under my skin? The way we build cities in this country makes absolutely no sense. I mean, we spread everything out as far as possible,…
Why Most “Green” Buildings Still Suck (And How to Actually Design One That Works)
Last Tuesday I got a call from an architect who was practically hyperventilating about an office building they’d designed. Beautiful project, LEED Gold certification, all the right buzzwords in the…
Why Most Desert Landscaping is Just Environmental Theater (And What Actually Works)
Last week I was walking through this client’s backyard in north Boulder – you know, one of those xeriscaped yards that’s supposed to be “water-wise” – and I couldn’t help…
Real-World Sustainable Design Guidance That Actually Works on Jobsites
Last month I got this email from an architect in Denver who was pulling her hair out. She’d been pushing her firm to take sustainable design seriously, but every time…
Why I Stopped Using “Green” and “Sustainable” Like They Mean the Same Thing
Had a client meeting last week that reminded me why terminology matters so much in this business. They walked in excited about their builder’s “green home” proposal – bamboo floors,…