Rob Watson

It was the right thing to do, too bad it was illegal.  

In driving the city's Green Building Ordinance forward, Mayor Martin J. Chavez of Albuquerque demonstrated vision and leadership in sustainability that has been so sorely lacking at the national level. Unfortunately, in developing the criteria for the ordinance, the city did not check to see whether its requirements were consistent with federal law, which regulates most household appliances and equipment at the national level. Bad Albuquerque! Bad!

Sadly, a group of 13 corporations, abetted by their trade association, the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI, formerly ARI) brought suit against the ordinance....

   (0)

My own editorial policy when writing for GreenerBuildings.com is "A lot of practical advice and a little bit of philosophy."  I thought I'd indulge in a bit of the latter, as practically every bit of media is speculating how the macroeconomic tumult will slosh down into our day-to-day lives.  

On a more macro scale, it's hard not to wonder whether we are seeing the first cracks in the citadel of "Ego-nomics."  Ego-nomics is a term I've coined for the 18th century construct typically described as Adam Smith's "invisible hand."  Under ego-nomics the only things that are truly invisible are the non-economic impacts of a transaction (pollution, exploitation, extinction), which...

   (0)