Adam Shake on The Evolution of Sustainability

At it’s core, sustainability is the responsible use of the planets natural resources. The need for individual and global sustainability is two fold. Most of the natural resources that we use are either un-replaceable or are being used at a far greater rate than they can be replaced. It is also through the increased use of many of these resources, specifically fossil fuels, that leads to increased levels of CO2 in our atmosphere and as a result, global warming.

The last decade has seen an incredible increase in climate change science, media news coverage of that science, increased understanding of that science through the media, individual NEED to make individual change and a corporate business model shift to provide consumers the tools and products to help them become more sustainable.

In 2000, sustainability was just “going public” and a lot of people still viewed it as a “Hippie Philosophy.” Being sustainable meant making individual decisions and choices thought of it as “voluntary Simplicity” or “Minimalism.” These terms were coined because for many years, people who lived sustainable lifestyles were viewed as “too poor to be able to live a consumer lifestyle.” Those who “Chose” sustainability for ethical or earth saving reasons wanted a way to show the world that it was a lifestyle “choice.”

Sustainability has gone mainstream and Government and Business have helped.

The US Green Building Council formally released its Leadership in Energy and Environment Design building standards (LEED) full Green Building Rating system 2.0 in March 2000. In 10 short years, a quick Google search of “LEED” results in almost 9,000,000 search results. Leed certification is starting to pervade almost every aspect of building design and architecture from “Green” houses to Commercial and Government buildings. Leed is an example of Government and Private Business working together for sustainability.

An example of Business helping people be more sustainable is the surge in canvas and cloth bags that are used for grocery shopping, aluminum drinking bottles, remote control surge protectors, organic produce, environmentally safe cleaning products, programmable thermostats.

Even with all these advances, there is controversy over Big Government being too involved in individual lives. For example, the U.S. Government is mandating the eventual elimination of incandescent lightbulbs by 2012, in favor of the more energy saving (and less fossil fuel burning) compact fluorescent lightbulbs. These and other innovations are viewed by some as infringement of individual rights. But with the increase in such things as environment destroying mountain top removal coal mining, the government must weigh individual rights with environmental security.

I believe that the we will continue to see both an individual acceptance of sustainability and more technological advances to assist with a more sustainable lifestyle.

Technological advances and greater acceptance of those advances will most likely include things like motion detection light switches, televisions and even heating systems.
We can also look forward to greater smart grid technology that will utilize renewable power sources such as solar and wind as primary energy sources that will switch to fossil fuel sources as back up.
Eventually, these energy grids will be able to store renewable energy that is generated during non peak hours to use during peak hours, perhaps getting rid of the need for fossil fuel generated electricity all together.
Lithium battery technology will continue to progress, to the point where we will all be able to drive hundreds of miles on one charge, before plugging into a publicly available recharging station run on renewable energy.
Green roofs (roofs covered with low maintenance plant materials, trees, grasses and shrubs) will become more standard on new construction as Leed certification becomes more attractive to builders through greater tax breaks and rebates.
The price of oil will continue to rise, helping to drive the funding of and public acceptance of bio-fuels, hybrid and electrical vehicles and public transportation.
Mixed use residential, retail and office buildings will be built in an effort to make pedestrian friendly neighborhoods and cities that people can live, shop and work in without having to commute long distances.

All of these things are already either being worked on, being improved or being rolled out. The future, in our case, must continue to be now. The future that we see for ourselves must be the present that we demand.

Tags: climate change, environment, LEED, sustainability, sustainable

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 4:05 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Adam Shake on The Evolution of Sustainability