Architect Talk: Going Green

Event: Going Green: Designing Sustainable Homes and Communities. Speaker: Dr. Avi Friedman
Organizer: Architecture for humanity
Cost: Free!
Pre-event estimate: 4 out of 5 according to June 23's talk
Post-event rating: 5 out of 5!

(We struggle to write this post: Dr. Friedman's message is so powerful that we don't know how to capture all we learn from this talk. Then we realize the essence of his speech lies in his persuasiveness and positive attitude. Here's our attempt to convey this in written format)

A good friend becomes a firm supporter to a US president candidate after listening to that candidate's speech a few years ago. After attending this workshop, we feel like yelling Dr. Friedman for President after this talk as well!

Dr. Friedman discusses the four key elements of a sustainable society: They are economy, society, environment and culture. He stresses the inter-dependence and the cause and effect relationship of the four. E.g. Building more bike lanes decreases the carbon outputs from cars (the environment), which also helps people to maintain healthy weight (society) and so there is less burden on the public health system (economy). Government then can allocate resources on cultural events.

He analyses examples of successful sustainable communities. He proposes bold changes on how to build a sustainable community and sustainable housing. He explains his long-term plan for a green society. He believes in spreading the message and changing one person at a time. His positive attitude motivates us to believe in his vision, and, most importantly, gives us courage to confront the biggest challenge he points out--the lack of forward-thinking plan and the fear of implementing changes in life.

From Jade and CHRIS