Go, Ready, Set

This week I read an inspiring piece by Jeffrey Moore at NBBJ, on the importance of benchmarking energy use of projects in order to reduce consumption in all new construction. One wonderful conviction that Mr Moore taps is that certifications and performance standards are not a ceiling, they are a starting point.

Our personal goals, both as companies and individuals, can aim much higher. In our nearly-universal shared state of tight deadlines and budgets, smart designers will find better solutions when their personal goals are lofty and non-negotiable. Because while negotiation is the appropriate language of business relationships, there are fewer situations in which it should be the vocabulary of personal conviction.

The brilliant realism here, however, here is a commitment to interim best practices while stretching and sweating for the goal.

As Moore wrote: "Sound daunting? It is! However, as we find new ways to cut energy consumption, purchased renewable energy can fill the gap."

Good to think of both today and tomorrow as holding goals worth pushing toward... and not get caught standing at the starting line, waiting for better materials, better practices, better opportunities. Click through to the energy reduction letter he references here.