I am attending an environmental conference. The first speaker was Edward Mazria, the founder of Architecture 2030. He said a study showed that buildings consume 77% of the energy used. That being the case, he thought it was imperative that we start constructing buildings to be more energy efficient. The goal is 0% by 2030, ZNE (zero net energy). For more information on this topic, look at www.architecture2030.org
Another speaker was a familiar personality, Don Shelby, a former reporter and news anchor in the Twin Cities. He has a passion for addressing global warming. Mr. Shelby stressed the waste that currently occurs because we are not combating this situation effectively. He illustrated this by talking about the energy efficient house that he built. During the extremely hot summer that we had this year, some people were paying close to $400 for utility bills because of the high use of air conditioners. With the technology used in his home, he had a $5 refund. He made a comment on strategy that I think we should all take to heart, “Protect the environment to protect the economy.”