GREEN IS EVERYTHING

As I sit here beside the Cowpasture River listening to the rapids and tree frogs, I can’t help but be reminded why I endeavor to practice green architecture.

 I have always considered myself a conservationist, even if I don’t look like one at first glance.  Recognizing that the earth is a finite system and our resources (including open space) are finite, it is my goal to leave the world better than I found it and to bestow a legacy to my children where they can experience the same joys in life I have.  Among other things, this would include being able to stand quietly and contemplate the rapids or to ride through them in a canoe or innertube.

 By practicing good planning; small lots, small footprints, keeping development within reasonable urban boundaries, we will preserve the open spaces.  By making the best possible use of materials we can build utilizing fewer trees.  This has a twofold effect.  First is that the countryside can stay forested longer.  Secondly, the trees improve the quality of the air we breathe.

 I could go on with the litany of things we can easily do to make our buildings and cities greener, but most of us are pretty well immersed in greenness these days.  Suffice it to say, it is up to us to be good stewards of what we have, and what we have is a small, green planet which provides a habitat for all of us.