Author Archive
What is the Carbon Footprint of a Coffee Bean?
June 13th, 2011
By Eric Carbonnier, AIA, LEED AP / Environmental Analyst
The LA office is currently sampling a variety of burnt beans that have traveled thousands of miles and consumed countless infinite resources to satisfy a self-induced ritual—note my obvious cynicism for I am neither a coffee drinker nor connoisseur. However, I do see myself as a deep green junky that simply wants to know more about the history of this burnt bean and its impact on our global community. What is the carbon footprint of a latte and have we explored our options?
Posted in High Performance Architecture | 1 Comment »
What is Your Threshold of Greenwashing?
November 12th, 2010
By Eric Carbonnier, AIA, LEED AP / Environmental Analyst
Integrating photovoltaic (PV) panels on architectural projects is a common solution to generate electricity while contributing to environmental awareness and reducing greenhouse gases. However, practitioners integrate PVs without fully understanding that they have an optimal installation condition and deviating from this diminishes the value and performance, and promotes inefficiency. Surprisingly, practitioners defend this inefficiency because any contribution to lower greenhouse gases represents progress.
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Posted in High Performance Architecture | 1 Comment »
