The Myth of Sisyphus

T H OF
MYTH
E
SISYPHUS
A R O A D M A P
FOR FIXING OUR
BUILDINGS

E R I C C O R E Y F R E E D
Principal, organicarchitect
Architect
LEED Accredited Professional

THE MYTH OF
SISYPHUS

“does the realization of the
futilityrequirelife
of
suicide?
No. It requires
REVOLT.”
-Albert Camus
The Myth of Sisyphus

IT’S HARD TO BE AN ENVIRONMENTALIST

5
the

elisabethkublerross.com
stages of grief

1
FIVE STAGES OF (ENVIRONMENTAL) GRIEF

Denial.
“This can't be happening...”

2

Anger.
“It’s not fair!”

3

Bargaining.
“Can’t this wait a little more?”

4

Depression.
“What’s the point?!”

5

Acceptance.
“Everything will be OK!”

greenwash
noun
disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to
present an environmentally responsible public image.
“That oil company is, like, totally greenwashing.”

WHAT’S WRONG
?
WITH BUILDINGS

45%
buildings

30%
cars

25%
industry

carbon emissions

SUBURBIA LAS VEGAS NEW ORLEANS

a plan for
REVOLT


What Is the Future of Suburbia? Can We Univent Suburbia?
Stephen J. Dubner - August 12, 2008 Alex Williams - February 10, 2008
“...as we look to the future, “...in the old days it was a slum tenement,
suburbia is evolving, resulting in worries [today we] talk about such things
over the rise of suburban slums...” as the future of suburbia...”

Stranded in Suburbia? Running on Empty
Paul Krugman - May 13, 2008 Natalie Canavor - March 13, 2005
“Slums will migrate out and modern day “...see the American suburbs as
burb ghost towns are a possibility.” the slums of the future...”


983
2,080 2,349

2004
1950

1,500

1990
1970


Palmanova, Italy

26 MILLION ROADS

benfry.com/allstreets/

$
per household
$

1100
131,700,000,000
annual cost of highways

SOURCE: Federal Highway Administration

200 PEOPLE CAN COMMUTE IN...

i-sustain.com


18,810 15,000

acres

acres
manhattan
store coverage

SOURCE: Good Magazine
leidorf.de

38

%
street lights

ALL LIGHTING


civiltwilightcollective.com

4

1
new homes
in

SOURCE: Housing Zone


50 cubic yards

WASTE

85%
recyclable


31,500,000

tons/year
waste generated by builders

amycaseypainting.com


WOOD SAVINGS

30-55 %
$
3,400

home
each
12
in tons of carbon


2x4@
16”

o.c.

SOURCE: Building Science Corporation
2x6@
24”

o.c.
LESS WOOD
MORE INSULATION

$1
a year $

$160
a year
$34

a year
VAMPIRE LOADS
3,000,000,000
a year

SOURCE: Dept. of Energy - Assumes $0.11 per kilowatt


terrapass.com

1,200,000
cars off the road

SOURCE: US Department of Energy

1%

off
ENERGY BILL

1˚
lower
THERMOSTAT

SOURCE: Grist


30 %

SOURCE: California Energy Commission
A GE
E AK
T L
D UC


sycamorefan.com


brondell.com


sinkpositive.com


VICTORY
GARDENS


Ban the lawn. No straight streets; Require porous
Plant Victory Gardens. no road signs. paved lots.

Over the counter Demand a Encourage local
solar permitting. corner store. developers.
Use eminent domain.

to implement


1973
Population 358,400


1991
Population 937,261


2000
Population 1,563,282

12%
PORTLAND CEMENT

global warming

71,000,000
fly ash

tons produced

tons consumed

29,000,000

35-50%
SUBSTITUTE

fly ash for cement

fly ash
alr
ea
dy

15% cut
int
oc
em
en
t

1 ton = 1 ton
of Portland Cement of Carbon Dioxide


COOL ROOF SAVINGS

70˚
40˙ C

cooler


COOL ROOF SAVINGS

4,000,000,000
$

by 2015

$35M $40M $10M
CHI
LAX

SOURCE: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
LAS NYC
PHX $16M
$37M DFW
$20M $20M
MIA

GREEN ROOF SAVINGS

40%energy savings

$

12-24
sq ft
green roof

8
$

sq ft
green grid

hydrotechusa.com


HOT AIR
HOT AIR
HOT AIR

A/C
HOT WATER

40 %
off

HOT WATER BILL


19
CARPET
sq miles

SUBURBIA
LAS VEGAS

420,000
197,000
NEW ORLEANS

homes slots
SOURCE: Avant Guide to Vegas; Dept. of Energy; Assumes 920 kWh per house


39 25
turn it off

lamps
december
7000 watt

3
for a year
homes

FINISHES locally
Recycled, non-toxic,
sourced, sustainable.

TASKthe work areas
Only light
LIGHTS
to save energy.

KILL all electronics
Turn off
SWITCH
when not in use.

CABINETRY
Use formaldehyde free
cabinets & FSC or
bamboo doors.

MINI natural, healthy
Organic,
BAR
foods.

FLOORING trap
Hard flooring doesn’t
allergens.

LINENS free &
Organic, chemical
non-synthetic.

CLEANERS
Non toxic cleaners.

GREEN HOTEL ROOM


300
$

echoflexsolutions.com


SOURCE: Energy Star
130
$

per
SIGN

per year
activesafety.com

SUBURBIA

$

per
LAS VEGAS

300
CAB

per year
NEW ORLEANS



75
percent
savings on
ENERGY

4
each saving
car emissions

6500
$

year

SUBURBIA
LAS VEGAS

$
NEW ORLEANS

350

per year


fluxxlab.com

FALSE WATER ABUNDANCE

114 160
gallons
per day

gallons
per day
ARIZONA COLORADO

lake mead, nevada
SOURCE: Scripps Institute of Oceanography

2021 extinct


Create a national Allow hotels to
Avoid concrete
in this hot climate. energy code share energy, heat
similar to California. & hot water.

Permit waterless Enforce true green Permit greywater
fixtures. hotel standards. in toilets.

to implement


2005
New Orleans


1871
Chicago Fire


1906
San Francisco Quake


28 August 2005


31 August 2005


50x
acceptable level of
F O R M A L D E H Y D E
SOURCE: Newsweek; USA Today

REBUILDING
IRAQ LOUISIANA

SOURCES: US Army Corps of Engineers, US Dept. of State, FEMA, Bechtel, Time Magazine
1,239 SCHOOLS 85
136 HOSPITALS 11
342 POLICE/FIRE 6

$120B COST $85B
(40% more)


schools spend more on
trash disposal
than
new textbooks


globalgreen.org/neworleans


esynola.org


chrisjordan.com


SOURCE: Pugh & Scarpa Architects
makeitrightnola.org

SUBURBIA
LAS VEGAS

$
$

increase
per square foot
4
savings

67
NEW ORLEANS

SOURCE: Capital E; US Green Building Council


firemansfund.com


®

solarcity.com
sungevity.com
citizenre.com


Form a Establish best Create a
Sustainable NoLa practices for green Sustainable NoLa
Task Force. homes. Enterprise Zone.

Prevent big box Join together.
Priority permitting
and opportunistic There’s power in
for LEED bldgs.
development. numbers.

to implement

2,000
$

each
TAX REFUND

incandescent bulbs

2010
extinct

ashtrays

2015
extinct

phonebooks

2020
extinct

size zero clothes

2025
extinct

petroleum & oil

2035
extinct

printed newspapers

2050
extinct

glaciers

2020
extinct

polar bears

2030
extinct

clean air

2040
extinct

$

in claims
200,000,000,000

SOURCE: Resolution Management Corporation

Deaths
Asbestosis

SOURCE: National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

lead paint

310,000

children
affected annually

SOURCE: USA Today, 10/29/07
1978
extinct

plastic bags in San Francisco

750,000
$

saved annually

2008
extinct

FORMALDEHYDE

10x
more allowed

1

SOURCE: California Air Resources Board (CARB)
10,000
in

Californians
CANCER FROM
F O R M A L D E H Y D E

vinyl products

this is

VINYL
200?
extinct

voc’s in paints

ganic
ile or nds
volat pou
com

200?
extinct

our oil addiction

200?
extinct

carbon emissions

2030
extinct

“I’d put my money on
solar energy.
I hope we don’t have to wait til
oil we coal
run out before
&
TACKLE THAT.”
-Thomas Edison
in 1931

SOURCE: Fox News, MSNBC
per minute

85,997
$

45,200,000,000
$

profit
in 2008

fine for Valdez disaster in 1989:

125,000,000
$
24 hours of profit

to dispel climate change in 2007:

15,800,000
$
3 hours of profit
24 March 1989

being the most evil corporation:

priceless

Government

2007
Subsidies

$
Oil 78,000,000,000

Coal 3,302,000,000
Natural Gas 2,149,000,000
Nuclear 1,267,000,000
Wind 724,000,000
Solar 14,000,000

“Drill, baby, drill!”

“Invent, baby, invent!”

1. Seek energy independence.
2. Generate 20% of our electricity
from wind in 10 years.
3.
Use natural gas as a bridge
to renewable domestic
energy technologies.

pickensplan.com

10,000,000,000
$

invested

35x

3
rd

provider of solar
largest emitter of carbon

SOURCE: New York Times Magazine, June 22, 2008

CA
LI
FO
R
NI
A
(Lake Mead)


ALL U.S. ELECTRICITY
674,000,000,000
$ solar on every household

once
700,000,000,000
$ annual cost of foreign oil

per year
three
MANHA -four
ths o
f

TTAN

5 ¢
people per square mile

KILOWATT

“you must be the
CHANGE
you wish to see in the
WORLD...”

-Mahatma Gandhi

September 2009 • Silicon Valley

westcoastgreen.com

YOUR HOMEWORK

5
what’s next:

action steps

1
YOUR HOMEWORK

take action.
do something.
think big.

2
YOUR HOMEWORK

tell others.
share your
enthusiasm.

3
YOUR HOMEWORK

fill the materials
library with green
materials.

4
YOUR HOMEWORK

make a list of
things you will
not compromise.

5
YOUR HOMEWORK

become champion
of one issue.
innovate.

DOWNLOAD THIS PRESENTATION:

organicarchitect.com/downloads/revolt.pdf

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QUESTIONS

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The Myth of Sisyphus

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