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Principal Jeffrey L. Zucker
Reports From '08 West Coast Green
 SAN DIEGO, CA- The ’08
West Coast Green Conference, which I attended in San Jose in September
was quite an energizing event!I arrived at the conference early in order to participate in a special, day-long workshop on Biomimicry. The question was posed “What would Nature do?” in response to a series of design challenges. As an example, we examined spider webs in the field and took note of how they addressed certain problems, such as tensile strength, camouflage, and sustainability. With the understanding that the workshop typically lasts two weeks, I felt that we were merely being presented with the tip of the iceberg with regard to this rich and interesting field. Hundreds of booths of information, dozens of workshops to attend, numerous key note speakers in the field of sustainability. It would be difficult to capture the essence of it in a few short paragraphs, so I will, instead, limit my synopsis to a few of the highlights. One of the first keynote speakers was a dynamic young photographer named Chris Jordan. His photographs of . . . . trash . . . helped to put into graphic perspective the amount of waste that is occurring in this country. When someone says we throw away umpteen million plastic bottles every day, it is kind of a difficult concept to grasp. But, when you see a photo of those bottle, it is almost overwhelming. A Not So Big Lifestyle Sarah Susanka, author of “The Not so Big House” was next and really impressed me with her continuing exploration into living the life that fits the model which she espouses. Her latest book, “The Not So Big Life, Making Room for what Really Matters” is particularly poignant for me, because it relates her experiences as an architect to her approach to life. Whether you are an architect or not, it is a good read and a good way to learn how to restructure and simplify your life. Next, it was on to the showroom, where, amongst an estimated 400 booths, I came across a few gems. My favorite was what I call “ an above ground, water harvesting storage tank”. In more common terms, it would be referred to as a swimming pool. Or, as the company “DesignEcology” has dubbed it: a Living Pool. The benefits are that if protects the water quality, provides wetlands habitat, provides a chlorine free swimming area and creates a beautiful landscape element all at the same time. Green Innovation Other fun/interesting things included a device called The WaterMill that harvests water out of humidity, which may have limited use in this area, but it was still interesting and a product called Ecodrain which extracts the heat out of the shower/bathtub water as it goes down the drain to be used to preheat the next batch of water. Probably the most elegant products were designed by Ricardo Baiao, including a compact solar powered music system, called Sunflower, and an electric vehicle called The Dauphin, which can be found at yankodesign.com The most inspiring speaker of the conference was, of course, Al Gore. You can watch a portion of Al Gore’s challenge to Repower America at WeCanSolveIt.org, much of which he repeated at the West Coast Green Conference. The electricity in the crowd that day should have been harvested, because we probably could have lit up Manhattan. All in all, a most “enlightening” trip. Authors, Products, and Other Resources: Biomimicry Guild Chris Jordan Sarah Susanka: The Not So Big Life, Making Room for What Really Matters Design Ecology The WaterMill Ecodrain The Dauphin WeCanSolveIt.org West Coast Green Conference  Jeffrey
L. Zucker, LEED AIA brings over 30 years of experience in
environmentally sensitive and community-based design. An
apprentice to internationally renowned architect Paolo Soleri, Jeff
served as Project Architect and Construction Supervisor at
Arcosanti. Jeff's first home in Prescott received a citation from
the Energy Efficient Building Association (EEBA) for residential
construction. More recently, his commitment to conserving resources and
fostering community led him to create the first cohousing community in
Arizona: Manzanita Village. |
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