looking past the Wal-Mart ref - Green Revolution Sweeping the US Construction Industry...

[bridgit]

it is a good thing by & large :thumbsup:

'AURORA, Colorado - Rows of little plastic domes dot the roof of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter here, looking like a marching band of "Star Wars" R2-D2s.

Inside each dome, a trio of computer-aimed mirrors tracks the sun and bounces its light down a reflective shaft and through a milky white lens, illuminating the stockroom below.

The skylight idea is centuries old. But the mirrors, the lenses and dozens of other energy- and environment-saving innovations are new, and they're showing up not just at Wal-Mart but at other companies, schools and public agencies.

In addition to the Wal-Mart's legion of skylights, for example, the store's foundation is made of ground-up chunks of runway recycled from Denver's old Stapleton International Airport. Porous paving in its parking lot soaks up and filters polluted storm-water runoff. Huge north-facing windows provide most of the store's interior light. Used motor oil from the tire and lube shop helps heat the store, as does old vegetable oil from the deli.

According to Don Moseley, senior Wal-Mart engineer for environmental innovation, these and other efforts "are good for the environment and good for our business."

That's the mantra of the so-called green building movement that's sweeping the nation. Among the adherents are financial institutions such as Citigroup, PNC and Bank of America; automakers such as Toyota, General Motors, Ford and Honda; and such retailers as Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Chipotle and Patagonia.'

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1212-03.htm

[silverweb]

1. It's all a good start.

The sweeping of the nation needs to intensify greatly, but all this positive publicity is terrific.

That said, maybe it would be a good idea to ask the mods to move this to the Environment/Energy forum, where it will get more attention?

[bridgit]

3. hm, that's a thought, and i do agree...any progress in is field is good...

:thumbsup:

[MrModerate]

2. Working for an engineering/construction company . . .

I can tell you they're pretty serious about it -- as in, a new way to do business (or at least to win business, since not all customers are interested). Our Asia infrastructure group recently finished a factory that had every sort of energy saving device, but also featured a ratio of auto-to-bike parking that encouraged bike commuting as an employee behavior, and arranged the assembly lines so that almost all workers were in predominantly natural light during their shifts -- not only to save power, but beause it's more humane to treat your workers that way. LEED technology is energy efficiency Mark II, and it's definitely growing.

[bridgit]

4. thank you most definitely, MrModerate, i think going 'green' is, or will be key...

to much of what is to following insofar as solving these fossil issues we labor under so disproportionately thank you for your work in the field as well :)