What does that word “green” elicit from you? For many, the word is a rousing anthem calling for our very best. For those, “green” provides an opportunity to transform our client’s lives while simultaneously improving the planet for future generations. For others, it stirs up the opposite. And in some cases, it unleashes pretty significant negative reactions. I have encountered such thinking more times than not, and from some otherwise very intelligent, capable and highly professional remodelers. With all the political trappings associated with the words "green" or "sustainable", perhaps a fresh, new perspective is in order.
Whenever I talk about green homes, I find that the phrase "high performance" can easily be substituted. Because that is essentially what a truly green home is. It outperforms "standard" code compliant homes in any metric you employ, including the social responsibility metric. But we need to reach beyond merely high performance. To meet that need, NEXTbuilding Forum has been born. The name is meant to suggest the next standard of building we will do. It represents that we are reaching beyond current understandings, knowledge and paradigms about how we design, build and remodel our homes. Together, we need to reach towards this “next” awareness. And towards that important line of learning and thought, the NEXTbuilding Forum is dedicated-
