Publisher's Watch

Much has been made of how green and sustainable standards are being incorporated into all aspects of new real estate development--whether commercial, residential, or institutional. Yet, the biggest issue at hand is the existing building stock and how to bring it up to these standards. This dilemma has not gone unnoticed; the United States Green Buildings Council has established its own LEED standard for existing buildings to address this issue, and other organizations are doing the same.

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• Green Building | Leave a comment • Email Article

The economy's woes are well documented at this point, and many are looking for solutions and a way out of this morass. There has been an overwhelming amount of news and media coverage of new "green jobs" being created for the new "green economy." President Obama has pledged many times that this is one way to grow out of the recession. Well, as the economy continues to teeter and the unemployment rate continues to rise, where will these employment opportunities come from? Some of the stimulus money is being directed toward green jobs creation, but not nearly enough to make a serious dent.

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• The Green Movement | Leave a comment • Email Article

One of the biggest issues in the real estate community is how to develop green properties while making a profit. This alone has been a deterrent over the past decade for many developers. One of the common refrains has been that it's just "too expensive" to develop ecofriendly; home buyers simply won't pay for the added costs of a green home. Of course, the price differential between a green home and one that is not has narrowed substantially as more and more products and services have entered the marketplace. However, while many real estate companies are now adopting green principles to guide new developments, there remains a price differential, between those who can afford a green home and those who can't, that hasn't been addressed. That is, until now.

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• Green Building | Leave a comment • Email Article

In considering our need for green energy, consider the energy it now takes just to have an online social life.

Social networking is far beyond a fad and definitely more than a cultural phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people have joined Facebook and Twitter, among others, and users have never had so many choices that require nothing more than a computer and a few peripherals -- hardware they owned before signing up. There are many discussions about whether these networks have economically sustainable business models. Like other industries with exponential growth, some are going to fall by the wayside.

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• Sustainable Living | Leave a comment • Email Article