I think we can all agree that green is a snowball that is slowly getting bigger and bigger as it rolls down the mountainside.  But contrary to what marketing firms want you to believe, not everybody is on the green bandwagon yet.

So here’s the question: why not? What stops you from going green?

I’ve heard a lot of reasons.

Last week I was talking with Pam Worner of Green Dog Enterprises and she said the economic downturn isn’t helping anything. High-end home builders can still go green because their buyers can afford the premium. But everyday home builders just can’t afford it right now, she said.

Usually, what I hear is that green is too expensive. So I, for one, am surprised by the current results of my poll at right. So far, what stops the majority of respondents from building green is people just aren’t asking for it.

But as you can see, not that many people have answered the poll yet. If you haven’t please choose an answer. If you have more to share, please add your comment below.

I want to know why you’re not building/designing/working green… what stops you, and what, if anything, could convince you to make the jump!

When the Associated Press runs a story on the ”green grudge” between two Hollywood celebrities trying to outdo each other’s green homes, you know green is going mainstream.

Or is it? Are we talking about Angelina Jolie and Harrison Ford finagling over home energy efficiency? Or Madonna and Nicole Kidman scrupulously watching their water use? Nope. It’s Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye (the science guy).

According to the AP story, the battle to the death (of carbon footprints) started two years ago when Nye, a former Seattleite, moved one house away from Begley. Immediately there was tension. Nye said he’d beat Begley at his own green game. Begley got jealous of Nye’s solar panels, and so blossomed the now historic rivalry.

In Nye’s corner: a new solar panel system that shows when he’s saving more power than he’s using, an electric fence powered by a matchbox-sized solar panel to keep animals away from his home grown produce, a patio cover made of recycled plastic lumber, copper rain gutters, and an American flag that gets illuminated at night via a light bulb powered by a tiny solar panel.

In Begley’s corner: older solar panels, rain barrels to offset his wife’s 20 minute showers and water plants, composts garbage, cooks in an outdoor solar oven,  an electronic sprinkler system that checks the forecast and shuts down if it is supposed to rain, a white picket fence made of recycled plastic milk cartons… a shtick as a green guy and a TV show on HGTV to share his info with the masses.

So which one is greener?

And are these really the best ways to green a home? Personally, I’m wondering about their energy efficiency, insulation… house materials. Things that are less flashy than a night-lit American flag. 

And while they may not exactly be A-list celebrities a little competition (and publicity) is always said to be good for business. Now if only Brad Pitt and Britney Spears could get in on the game….

And local readers, when Begley was in town at the AIA’s ReGeneration Conference in April, he said Seattle already understands sustainability… and that architects and people in the construction industry here need to keep up the great work and set examples for the rest of the country. Take it for what it’s worth.

For other versions of this story, check out green gossip site Ecorazzi. For information on green celebs go to msnbc here and click on the picture of Brad Pitt to the right (Begley is picture 5). Interested in the least-green celebrities? Visit Ecorazzi again or the Chicago Tribune (P.S., number 4 is Al Gore….)

Last week I came up with my own “brilliant” idea: create an online forum where people that work in green buildings would record their experiences to create a better understanding of how green buildings really feel.

That post was in response to Weber Thompson’s blog that is doing exactly that. If you missed it, that blog also answered my question on how the team is measuring their building’s performance (see tag below for Weber Thompson).

Now I’m asking you what your brilliant ideas are?

It’s no secret that Seattle (and Chicago, and Portland and New York etc….) are racing to be the greenest city in the country. So if Seattle wants to hold onto that goal, what should it do? Should density be the focus or should it be regulations through things like stricter energy codes?

On a broader scale, is urban planning the answer or is it more incentives?   

For a British perspective on what cities should do, see a BBC story here. For a video on the nature of sustainability and its future from the perspective of Sir Norman Foster, click here. Or you could check out Sustainable Ballard’s Web site here to see what one Seattle neighborhood thinks, or Sustainable Capitol Hill’s site here.

Yesterday, I asked the question ‘what do you think is the greenest project(s) in the region‘ and so far, I have received no comments. Unless  I get some comments soon, I will be forced to conclude that you, dear reader, have no opinion on the topic (which I just know isn’t true).

So tell me, what do you think are some of the greenest projects in the region? 

If there ever was a post to comment on, comment on this one. You are more than welcome to post anonymously, as evidenced by a past comment by ‘Rico Suave’ (to hear the hilarious song about the real Rico, click here). To read the overview post of the AIA Seattle COTE’s green awards and see pictures of award winners, see below.

To get your creative juices flowing, I’ll broaden the question: what is the greenest project(s) you have worked on, or know of, in the Pacific Northwest (or Pacific region)? It can be built or unbuilt. What do you think is particularly green about it? Perhaps you think it’s the Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Health and Healing by GBD Architects (above left) or the “inhabit” unit in Seattle by Mithun and HyBrid Architecture (right). P.S. the DJC has written stories on both those projects here and here.

Until you answer, I will be sitting here at the computer, waiting for your response. Come on, I’m begging here!

If Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin get their way, you will be charged a 20-cent “green fee” on all disposable shopping bags from Seattle grocery, drug and convenience stores, starting Jan. 1, 2009.

According to SPU, about 360 million disposable bags are used in Seattle every year, most plastic. That translates to 600 bags for each Seattle resident.

And those handy white foam containers that hold your pho soup or Mexican takeout, pictured at left? Under the proposal, you’ll also stop seeing those. Instead, businesses would have to replace everything from foam plates, cups and egg cartons with a different product by Jan. 1, 2009. Then, they would have to switch to using compostable or locally recyclable packaging by July 1, 2010.

The changes were announced in a proposal today supported by Nickels and Conlin. The legislation isn’t ready yet, but Conlin said it should be finalized, and considered by council, in June.

Nickels said Seattle is the first city in the country (that he knows of) to create a program like this, though cities across the world are adopting similar policies. At least 20 U.S. cities have banned polystyrene food packaging including Portland and San Francisco.                                                                             

Other options include packaging made of corn starch and sugar cane. A spokesperson for local restaurant group Tutta Bella, pictured at right, said at a press conference today that due to the restaurant’s recycling and composting of everything from expired pizza dough to food containers, the waste from all three restaurant locations combined fills only one garbage can per day.

(more…)

When I’m out in the field at forums and talks, I hear over and over that the construction and design community wants to build sustainable projects, but Seattle’s code prevents them from really pushing the envelope. But rarely does a talk go into the specifics of what exactly needs to change.

So here’s my challenge for you: answer what exactly needs to change and how. I want to know what general issues are problematic, how code makes it difficult to build green or incorporate green features, and what you would change to make the process easier. I welcome personal experiences and third-party stories, comparisons working in other jurisdictions or just ideas. It can be about residential, office, mixed-use, etc. I’d also welcome comments from areas outside Seattle (or Washington for that matter).

What’s the biggest hurdle? It it soil issues, gray water or water rights? Is it related to density or materials?

Conversely, is there anything Seattle recently did to make life (and projects) a whole lot easier? 

Post your thoughts and experience. You never know who could be listening……