GHGs Reduce with Economic Condition
The talk shows yesterday were all abuzz with the announcement that greenhouse gas emissions have reduced globally by 3% in 2009 due to the slowdown in the economy (according to the Global Carbon Project). They likened it to hundreds of power plants shutting down for several weeks. Basically, we've slowed down the production of "stuff," slowed down our driving and reduced our energy use in general.My own family has been affected by the recession - we planned to move out of the city into a larger home to accommodate our 3 year old. After a couple of years of sticking with a smaller apartment at this point, we've unwittingly realized how great it is to have less "stuff" and comm

HOK's Aha! Moments at Greenbuild
Last week at Greenbuild, my company decided to host a booth as we always do. Usually at our booth we talk about how great our green buildings are, what fabulous books we've written, etc. But not this year. This year we decided to capture on video those many inspirational people we meet at Greenbuild and share their most personal moments with the world. The Aha! moment when all of these brilliant minds realized that the environment was important to them for whatever reason. We've been compiling some great video - some of it very touching. I had to share - feel free to share your Aha! moment on this blog. We'd love to hear from you.Here is my personal favorite Aha! Mom

Disposable Water Bottles... Why Are They Still Here?
I just noticed this photograph of the Asian Pacific countries gathering in Singapore this weekend taking about their emissions pledges in advance of Copenhagen. Now, does anything seem strange to you about this photograph? Yeah, disposable water bottles? How can they possibly be ser

Appearances Matter
So you want to be green? Sometimes it involves a trade-off...there's only so much money and time available for upgrades! A new survey indicates that more homeowners are likely to invest in kitchen and bathroom renovations or floor finish replacement (appearance-focused) rather than energy efficiency projects like replacing HVAC or windows.Question: If you were suddenly handed $10,000 for home improvements, what would you do? (2009 data) Refinish the kitchen or bathroom (37%) Replace carpet or add hardwood or tile (33%) Replace windows (31%) Replace HVAC/furnace (23%)

Walk..or Bus...Score
Last year, we shared a fun favorite: walkscore. A cool tool then...even cooler now. Walkscore now incorporates transit information like bus stops in its calculations. Pretty awesome.Check out what came up for the HOK WDC Office: