The Carbon Footprint as you know, is a measure of our impact on the environment - particularly greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil-fuels for electricity, heat and transportation.

In theory, reducing our carbon emissions will slow climate change. Which is good. That’s what we want. Engineers have developed new technologies to generate power that don’t require fossil fuel combustion at all. For example, we thought that ethanol would be a viable solution. It was touted to reduce the carbon footprint of energy production as well as our dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, ethanol created more carbon that it saved, used obscene amounts of water, inundated waterways with nutrients and polluted water.

Oops.

In the architectural community it is widely agreed upon that incorporating solar and wind-power alternative energy systems into the built environment is a good thing. But environmentalists caution us to remember what happened with ethanol.

I’m not sure how closely related the architectural community is to the ‘outdoorsman’ community - or if there is any overlap. I have to image that some architects are outdoorsmen/women. There has to be a hunter or fisher among the registered architects in the U.S. In the December/January issue of Field & Stream there was an article “Green Energy Land Rush” by Bob Marshall. It opened my eyes. (The article was not available online, unfortunately).

While using wind turbines to generate electricity can reduce the carbon footprint, it also reduces the wildlife habitat. The article references a study by Robert McDonald, a landscape ecologist for the Nature Conservancy. McDonald “studied the land requirements to produce a terawatt-hour of energy - about the electricity generated by a small power plant.” It turns out that our “environmentally friendly” [ie carbon-reducing power generating strategies] are not as environmentally friendly as we thought.

McDonald’s study showed that coal requires the least amount of land to produce a terawatt-hour of electricity. The land requirements were calculated to be: 3.74 square miles for coal, 14.2 square miles for photovoltaic solar power, and 27.8 square miles for wind. The chart puts in perspective how much more land is required to produce an equal amount of energy, from these three energy sources.

This means two things. First, it means that before we create massive solar or wind “farms” we need to consider how that will affect our furry, feathered and scaled friends, rather than just the carbon footprint of energy production. Second, it means that there is a large window for improvement to both solar and wind-power generating applications.

It’s no secret that animals have been losing their habitats and that human-animal interactions have been on the rise for decades. With solar and wind technologies, we trade the carbon footprint for a habitat footprint. In my mind, green is more than reducing the carbon footprint of our lives, it also means protecting and restoring habitats.

Hello and welcome back to The Weekly LOdown - where we gather our favorite links from the architecture and building industry and share them with you each and every Friday.

This week our PR intern, Anna Collins, is joining the conversation! And with her help, we have a nice mix of content and style too!  Here’s what we’ve been clicking:

Anna

Courtesy New York Times

As a soon-to-be college graduate, I found this article on budget design interesting and hopeful. With the help of Incorporated Architecture & Design, a recent Columbia law school graduate decorated and furnished his apartment in Manhattan for only $8,000. With cheap high-design accents, he moves from dorm grunge to adult sophistication. And I think the end result is pretty impressive…

Allison

Today is the first day of the 2010 Pittsburgh Home and Gardens Show, which runs through Sunday, March 14, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. You can check out more than 1500 exhibits spread out across nine acres, showcasing everything you could possibly want or need for your home. You’ll also have the opportunity to tour the 2010 Dream Home (not to be confused with the HGTV 2010 Dream Home). Are you planning to attend the show? If so, we’d love to get your feedback for the LOdown!

Julianne

Courtesy USA Today

Earlier this week, President Obama unveiled the details of a Homestar program that would help homeowners make energy-efficient retrofits to their homes, while spurring jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries. The program has two levels and the first level of the program is the silver star level, which will give homeowners 50% rebates of up to $1,000 - $1,500 for doing basic energy-efficient upgrades such as insulation, water heaters, roofing, windows, doors and more.

One noted downside of the program is that there are not enough qualified contractors to help homeowners receive the $3,000 gold star rebate which requires accreditation by the Building Performance Institute. Homeowners would need to undertake a whole home energy audit and retrofit their homes for 20% energy savings at the gold star level.

Since builders welcome the program and others view it as a waste of taxpayer money, it will be interesting to see what happens next as the plan still needs to be approved by Congress, which will also set the funding and timing of the program.

Hello and welcome back to The Weekly LOdown - where we gather our favorite links from the architecture and building industry and share them with you each and every Friday.

This week we have Pittsburgh news, more Olympic coverage and lots of snow. Here’s what we’ve been clicking:

Allison

Here’s some good news for “yinzers” and future home buyers - Forbes Magazine named Pittsburgh the Best Housing Market in America. Forbes’ famous list-makers collected data from a handful of sources, including the National Association of Home Builders, and determined the top ten cities for home buyers, including three Texas markets on the list. And here’s more good news: from a national standpoint, Forbes reported that homes are near the most affordable they’ve been in 18 years.

Julianne

For the past two weeks, I’ve been glued to my TV each evening watching the Olympic drama unfold. I’m sad to see it come to a close this Sunday, but it’s time to to look forward to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where preparations are well underway. Architectural Record recently reported on how the construction was progressing for the 2012 Games, and even included a slideshow. What facility are you most excited to see finished? I can’t wait to see the completed Aquatics Centre.

Nick

Just because I refuse to have fun with or do anything creative with massive amounts of snow and ice doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t - particularly those in Japan, who are celebrating the annual Sapporo Snow Festival.  Sure, some of the sculptures are a little too goofy for my taste, but I really do appreciate and enjoy looking at the detailed sculptures of buildings. My favorite? This one of the Iolani Palace.

Thanks for reading!

I received this direct mail piece from a local builder yesterday and thought I’d share it today as it relates to the industry. Never mind the obvious oddity. What baffles the mind more is that the Photoshopper never thought to remove the white frisbee-looking disc perched on the roof.

Click to see a larger image:

The green building movement is not just about designing less wasteful buildings. It’s also about educating people about how they can be less wasteful. It requires design and construction professionals to refine and hone their skills, perhaps even repurpose their skills to stay competitive. Our focus on, and demand for green buildings has created green-collar jobs. This is true of all aspects of design and construction. I’ll highlight how the green movement has changed, and will continue to change electrical design and contracting (because I read this great blog post).

If you don’t want to read the post, here’s a summary:

In the next 10 to 20 years, “electrical contractor” will no longer be a suitable job title for electricians. Rather, they will become “energy contractors.” Studies show that green construction will skyrocket in the next five years, and that renewable energy jobs for electricians will grow 900%, just in the state of Colorado.

This growth will come from light system upgrades, parking lot renovations, wind turbine manufacturing and electric vehicle adoption. LEED is also creating new opportunities for electricians.

For more information on green job opportunities for electricians, read this article from the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).

Some things you can do to prepare for this change:

1. Explore how to refine or redefine your skills for a green market

2. Market and promote your newly acquired green credentials

3. Update your bidding process to make sure you land the green electrical jobs.

4. Purchase updated electrical estimating software that will include newer technologies and be able to estimate requirements for your new renewable energy jobs.