Greenbuild 2011 - US Green Building Council Annual Conference in Toronto

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Coverage at Architectural Record, w/ profiles on a number of Toronto projects:

http://greensource.construction.com/features/greenbuild/2011/

AoD

 

[dlam]

I'll be there tomorrow.

Random fact: Maroon 5 is performing tomorrow night at the Opening Keynote for GreenBuild at ACC.

 

[junctionist]

It's good to see some recognition of great projects in Toronto, and I think that everyone should read those articles and appreciate these projects and visit them if possible. The quality compares favorably with the similar projects in other major world cities. However, I found the ending of this article unfortunate. It paints the current situation as extremely bleak and as if no one cares about this stuff now that David Miller isn't mayor. Of course, it's best to have a mayor supportive and enthusiastic about taking the lead in green initiatives (and one should expect that from a major city), but many institutions and companies are interested in green architecture and making strides even in these politically problematic times.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

junctionist:

To be honest though I think the city's role is limited - the heavy lifting of designing and building green must come from the architects, builders and clients who see it as the default way of doing things; that improving sustainability isn't a "frill" or worse, a "fad" but something integral to the process.

AoD

 

[junctionist]

junctionist:

To be honest though I think the city's role is limited - the heavy lifting of designing and building green must come from the architects, builders and clients who see it as the default way of doing things; that improving sustainability isn't a "frill" or worse, a "fad" but something integral to the process.

AoD

Municipal politicians can effectively encourage the private sector to invest more in green technologies. The city sometimes has to legislate to allow for innovations to be implemented in the first place, and can raise standards. It can be done quickly or laggardly. The city is frequently an early adapter of green technologies, which can be invaluable to the private sector in the beginning.