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Nom_de_Guerre said: "A enormous tragedy when one considers the weight bees have on agriculture. In my country the blame has beens set on the parasite but there is..." [read]

Kevin G. Crump said: "It would be fascinating to see Chicago gain considerable ground in its mission to become equivalents to New York City, Milan, and Paris when it com..." [read]

Tricina said: "Consumers feel duped with all the greenwashing that companies have thrown at them. Fuji Water says they are "green to the last drop", Clorox has "G..." [read]

العاب said: "It seems we will never bring these anti nature pesticides to an end as long as these companies are eager to make material gains at the extent of en..." [read]

bryan said: "I pick up a piece of litter then drop it on the ground again. Is this littering? Releasing CO2 that would be released anyway is even l..." [read]

The Untapped Green Within Graying Buildings

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.20.07
Design & Architecture

vance-building.jpgWe always say that renovation is the greenest form of construction; now we learn from Tilde Herrera of GreenerBuildings that it is a good investment, too. She writes about Seattles 80 year old Joseph Vance Building (covered in Treehugger earlier) and its green makeover by New York developer Jonathan Rose Companies, which has started a Smart Growth Investment Fund to buy existing buildings and make them green. "In terms of the building stock, only 1 percent is new construction annually, so it is critical to focus on the existing 99 percent, which are huge consumers of energy," said Nathan Taft, who manages acquisitions for the Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund.

Herrera notes that "Using the existing building inventory goes to the heart of a core sustainability argument: it is often more wasteful to tear down and replace buildings, even if the replacement is green, than it is to improve what's already there." ::Greener Buildings

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