Earth Equity News

To Reduce Greenhouse Gases, Start by Shrinking Buildings. By Katherine Salant, WashPost, July 12, 2008. “New Mexico architect Edward Mazria has a proposal to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. His target: buildings. Most people do not connect the two, but in the United States, buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gases... Mazria's proposal, which he calls the 2030 Challenge, is well known in green building circles. It calls for an immediate 50 percent reduction in fossil-fuel-based energy in all new construction and major renovations of existing buildings, and further reductions of 10 percent every five years, starting in 2010. By 2030, all fossil-fueled equipment would be phased out, and all energy used in new and renovated buildings would come from renewable energy sources such as the sun, wind or earth. This may seem impossible, but Mazria says that the majority of his initial 50 percent reduction in houses could be met simply by building smarter so that less energy is required. With housing, the first step is a smaller house. Mazria sees a trend in this direction because you don't have to heat or cool what you don't build.”