Sustainability

In the wake of the very underwhelming Hurricane (sorry, tropical storm) Irene that whipped through Manhattan yesterday, I thought I’d discuss a topic that is becoming increasingly important in the construction of high-rise buildings. Building resiliency is a critical aspect of sustainability that used to be overlooked, but has come to forefront of the building industry as a result of recent catastrophic events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

According to the architecture community, the definition of a resilient building is its ability to survive a catastrophic event, especially where the loadings engendered by the event were not addressed in the design process. However, based on my rudimentary research, there are a number of concerns to providing the engineering capability needed to adequately address the vulnerability of a structure;
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I find it shocking that most people don’t understand the impacts of reaching peak oil – the point when the maximum rate of petroleum production is reached and it goes into an unstoppable decline. I wrote about peak oil a few months ago, but it seems that consumers only care about oil when prices are exorbitantly high. Recently however, I’ve been reading a lot of studies which show empirically that we have reached peak car use.

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I like to eat. When I say I like to eat what I mean is I really like to eat, which explains two of my other passions, cooking and the restaurant business.

Today, a great restaurant experience requires more than great food, it needs great service, a unique ambiance, and a story that’s worth spreading.  The hard part isn’t installing the stove or training the staff, the difficult (and scarce) part is telling a story.
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I’m back from Hilton Head Island after an incredible week of golfing on courses beyond my ability, biking on the beach, shark fishing, eating amazing food and spending time with great people (thanks MB and Dave!). As with past blogging breaks, I’m back with renewed energy and an inspired outlook on the future.

Like most people, I knew Hilton Head Island exclusively as a golf destination, and rightfully so, there are some amazing courses, but in my short time there I learned this unique island is much more than that. It’s rich with history, luxury real estate and activities that can pique a variety of interests.
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While watching the Masters this past Sunday I saw a great commercial about Georgia Power, an investor-owned utility company, which is doing a campaign using dogs that sniff out energy savings.

Although each commercial is simple and comical, they have  an energy-saving message. Check out some of my favorite below:
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