Design the future
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- ********
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7773…
I want to work for this man. Awesome.
MoneyQuote: "Being less bad is not being good. Our idea is to make production so clean, there's nothing bad left to regulate. This is extremely interesting to people of all political persuasions—those who love the environment and those who want commerce free of regulation."
- honest0
jerry maquire?
- ********0
Jerry Mac..what???
William McDonough. The recipient of two U.S. presidential honors and the National Design Award, McDonough is the former dean of architecture at the University of Virginia and co-chair of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development.
- Nairn0
Nice link TheTick, thanks.
I firmly believe that EVERYTHING should be designed environment-up.
Packaging, houses, cars, houses - people's education. Everything.
Whenever you buy something, or design a new poduct, just think - "would it be sustainable to make another 6 billion of these for very other fucker on the planet? No? Then is it really necessary."
It really is long past the time that we should all have got militant about the Western Machine's utter disregard for our environment.
aaaaanyway, /rant.
- Nairn0
I've REALLY got it in for houses, apparantly!
d'oh.
- stem0
Futuresytems were gonna build this near us:
http://www.future-systems.com/
(click first circle)
Project went tits-up
A valuable lesson in sustainability...
- rasko40
sounds like what should be the future.
Unfortunately most fatcats that could help change things aren't really interested in long term. the cunts.
- tkmeister0
a noble idea. but the reality is that the industry doesn't wanna change much. the manufacturers in US is very reluctant to change anything either good or bad.
- ********0
Well, what's nice is that if you can make it so they actually CUT costs by using this technology they will embrace it, which it seems this guy certainly has a handle on.
- tkmeister0
TheTick,
I worked in the architecture industry and you'll be surprised how many of contractors are not willing to do things they haven't done. they are just comfortable with the way it is and even if it cuts the costs, they are not likely to take the risk of trying new.it's amazing how stupid and oldfashioned these people are.
it'll be a dacade if lucky some of things he's saying and doing will become industry standard.
- ********0
What would be intresting would be to apply the science of franchise to such ventures.
If someone with enough drive can create a really good product, it can be adapted by other individuals buying into it, rather than waiting for industry itself to adapt (which is reluctant when fossil fuel isn't involved or is being phased out).
Alternative/green fuel sources is one. Something like hydrogen fill stations would most likely not need to be regulated like a gas station. If there is enough demand, independants can buy into it much like someone who helps to ensure a starbucks or McDonalds thrives every mile or so. Or perhaps even a self-serve vending "pod" could be set up for something like hydrogen fuel- this could work similar to the way in which vending machines work.
Part of the beauty of not needing to rely on heavy regulation is the flexibility that comes from it. And when dealing with new sources of clean power I think that the proliferation can occur quite easily granted the same old models aren't followed.
Key is to make the technology easily adaptable and useable. Another instance could be electronic fuel cell stations where you simply pull in and quickly exchange your depleated cartridge or block for a fully charged one (when the stations are always recharging them.) You make this simple machine that any gas station can implement, use, and make money off of simply supplying electricity. Hybrids become more and more popular based on the widespead availability of the recharge stations and soon they appear w/out gas tanks.
Most people are going to be less concerned with the fact that they are using a green source and more intrested in saving money and availablity. The beauty is that these two things can be met quite easily, in fact, these are what green sources naturally provide.
Now will Exxon, Shell, BP and friends jump at the opportunity to purchase an electric fuel cart recharge unit thats easy to use and cheep to boot? No way. Because the cheaper and easier it is to use, the more of a threat it is to them. New franchises would have to be born much like Gas stations themselves origianly came to be. And over time you would need to find sporadic coverage of Eccon stations as opposed to Exxon stations.
- ********0
tkmeister -
I've worked in the construction industry - office work for a few years while in school - the flipside of architects. The company I worked for worked on somepretty big NYC projects - and yeah construction is terribly ass backwards. Accounting software to them is an excel spreadsheet and Nextel phones are like the paramount of communication. Contrasted with architecs who would ask if we acccepted .pdf files of CAD drawings so the workers on site could mark them up and get them back to them..man I laughed at them. I was like "Dude, no one here even has email."
That said, the fact that this guy is working his concepts mostly in China where it's State controlled and at the beginning of a building/infrastructure boom could be far more interesting.
- ********0
people have been talking about doing this stuff for years. good luck fighting the bureacrats and governments
- tkmeister0
okay, that makes sense.
which one of those nyc project did you work on?
- vburo0
Tick sometimes you post a lot of nonsense.
this time you made an exception.
thank you.
:)
- ********0
It only seems like nonsense to you because you have not gained my level in the use of the Force young padawan...oops..sorry wrong thread...
- vburo0
a noble idea. but the reality is that the industry doesn't wanna change much. the manufacturers in US is very reluctant to change anything either good or bad.
tkmeister
(May 11 05, 07:02)eh... i beg to differ..
it's certainly not that black and white.look at China for instance, the govt. there is very very aware of the consequences of the absurd economic growth in that nation; both ecologically and economically. In fact China already has taken (be it somewhat radical) enormous measures to generate eco-friendly energy for it's billions of people.
i cannot come up with examples now, but i've read and seen plenty of examples.
ecological disasters == economical disaster on the long term.
and you bet they are damn well interested in preventing that.
- vburo0
It only seems like nonsense to you because you have not gained my level in the use of the Force young padawan...oops..sorr y wrong thread...
TheTick
(May 11 05, 08:30)hahaha, whats that? star wars language??
- ********0
Why not make a giagiantic plug and hook the earth directly into the sun?
- Visia0
TK, I suggest you read their book.
http://www.mbdc.com/book/index.h…
It's by far the best non-fiction book I've ever read. It's heavy as hell, like you could seriously hurt someone with it. But it's also indistructable and the pages are so white and the ink is so black, it's beautiful.
I think you'll find that they've managed to convince quite a few major "old-world" Fortune 500's to change the way they look at design, manufacturing etc.
- tkmeister0
vburo, maybe in china and other countries, yes.
but in the United States of America, no.