Green Options Turns One: Green Building Elements
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The Green Options Media Network that Green Building Elements belongs to started out as a group blog called Green Options a year ago today. I was one of the green building writers on board when it started. In the course of that first year, and all the changes we’ve gone through, Green Options has become a network of related blogs, and I’ve moved to now be the lead writer for an entire blog devoted to green building and sustainable design. (It’s perhaps also appropriate that Green Building Elements got its new look just in time for this anniversary.) It’s a big enough field and there’s enough interest that we have four people (so far) writing about green building.
Writing about green building gives me a chance to explore and find out about new developments and new products. When I went to the Greenbuild 2007 Conference, I walked through the exhibition hall and saw numerous manufacturers whose products I had already written about and who I was familiar with. In some cases, I got to ask more detailed questions, or to see products in person that I had only read about on websites up until then. There were a number of instances, though, when I could tell the rep in the product booth, “I’ve written about your product.” Nothing else has given me as strong a sense of being in the forefront of something much larger.
Along with this, as a working architect, I’ve also gone through training with the US Green Building Council to become an LEED accredited professional; my professional development in the area of green building paralleling my exploration as a writer in the field. I’ve also had the opportunity to stretch myself and to get into other areas of sustainability beyond the built environment. Perhaps because of my proximity to Detroit, I’ve been able to attend some automotive-related events and learned about developments in more efficient cars, alternative fuels, and other technologies. It’s certainly a long way from where I thought I might be a year ago.
I’m grateful to our editor, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, and the rest of the GO team for giving me the opportunity to be here. Most importantly, I’m grateful to you, the readers, for your interest in the subject, the questions you’ve asked and the feedback you’ve given. If you weren’t interested in this stuff, we wouldn’t be here.
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