Climate Change: barn door has begun to close

Australian Scientist Tim Flannery, author of The Weathermakers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth, has told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that GHG emissions were at the ‘dangerous’ 455 parts per million level by the middle of 2005.

Though not an IPCC member, Flannery’s statement is based on his analysis of the three working group reports released earlier in 2007. He anticipates the upcoming November IPCC report will state that global greenhouse gas levels already are at the levels potentially contributing to dangerous climate change, which had been predicted for 10 years from now based on worst-case scenarios.

This disclosure will increase pressure to use green buildings to mitigate – and adapt to climate change.

Sustainability Leaps Forward

What do a Toyota Prius and a Platinum LEED green building have in common? Both are elegant solutions to a wide range of problem statements, and both come with some cost premium. If "elegance" can be defined as the value created for the energy expended, both the Prius and the Platinum building are elegant. Thinking of LEED as a "Quality Assurance" process makes the analogy clearer; green buildings are to typical buildings as a Prius is to a Chevy Malibu. They both represent a quantum leap in quality and performance from "yesterday's standard" to something that will be a viable product well into the future.

Read the full article by Sustainability expert Jerry Yudelson here.