Replies

1. 
   JDRHI | Apr 01, 2007 06:46am | #1

   Haven't read it.....looks interesting.

   Thanks for the heads up.

   Democrats.
   The other white meat.

    

    

   
   

1. 
   DanMorrison | Apr 03, 2007 03:49am | #2

   It's a hell of a lot more interesting than this conversation is, I'll tell you what.

   Nothing personal, JDHRI, of course, but I thought I'd get at least a few bites.

   Wow. Dan MorrisonAssociate editor

1. 
   ovolo | Apr 03, 2007 05:11am | #3

   Dan .. that was very funny.. LOL
   ..
   I appreciated the notice of the book.. but I too have nothing to say yet.. maybe after I have read it. arthurhttp://www.thesmallbuildingcompany.com

2. 
   JDRHI | Apr 03, 2007 06:08am | #5

   You might try the "Whatcha Readin'?" thread down in the Tavern.....likely get some comments there.

   Democrats.The other white meat.

    

    

2. 
   temujin | Apr 03, 2007 05:51am | #4

   The book was published in 2002. It is quite dated.  Here is what I mean:

   1. There is no doubt that the Earth is heating. 2005 was the warmest year ever recorded. How about that! Even the president acknowledged that global warming is real, when no previous administration has ever made that claim.  Previously EPA, a goverment agency, said that there is no co-relation between global warming and the amount of green house gasses we produced.

   2. The book is printed on synthetic paper and not wood paper. Why would anyone do that. In the US, annually 10 billion cubic feet of wood is planted every year(grown) and only 6 billion cubic ft of wood harvested. There is a annual net gain. So there is more wood every year than the previous year. And I was reading online that on average hardwood(that mostly grows in the East coast) has an average life span of 60 - 80 years. So, they harvest trees that are mature and then plant new trees in their place. On the west coast, every softwood tree harvested is also replenished with a total net gain of trees.

   Another fact is old trees don't absorb a lot of CO2. New trees are a lot more active and absorb a lot more CO2, and therefore improve the quality of the atmosphere. As long as the wood is not burned after felling, the CO2 is trapped in the wood. Old mature trees are net CO2 producers, since their bodies rot and don't add much growth.

   And there are somewhere about 600 coal plants in the US, and contribute about 40% of the co2. Please check this fact, but I am sure that I got it right.

   3. Research has proved that wood is a much better buiilding material in term of net co2 produced compared to steel and concrete. But the biggest down side is that steel and concrete although are worse, but they last a lot lot longer and don't rot. So, may be they are better, I don't know.

    4. Anyways, I just want to say that I read somewhere that Ipe wood last five times longer than PT wood, which is amazing. that means that it is about 10 times better than cedar. And Ipe is said to be a fast growing hardwood and can be harvested responsibly. Maybe Ipe is the miracle wood. 

   I was watching a program on tv, where they had made these tables and chairs made from I think soda cans. They can then be melt down and made in to something else. It is a fascinating idea.

    

   
   

   ---

   Edited 4/2/2007 10:56 pm ET by temujin

3. 
   jimblodgett | Apr 03, 2007 07:35am | #6

   I read it.  About a year ago.  Terrific book. 

   I find myself thinking about, and saying out loud many of the things they wrote, on a regular basis.  Like "...it's not enough to do less harm...". And their whole theme about "downcycling", that eventually it all goes into the landfill anyway, that we need NEW ways that maintain the integrity of whatever resources we use so they can be reused in their next "life".

   Like many important books, it didn't so much open my eyes to anything new as much as clearly state things that had been scratching around my subconcious.  Helped me understand my own unease with the way we live, waste, pollute.

   "Seminal book"?  Maybe. Time will tell.  "Important book"?  No question. 

   What did YOU think of it?

    

    

   Remodeling contractor who once visited the Glass City.

1. 
   DanMorrison | Apr 03, 2007 05:26pm | #7

   I didn't want to taint the discussion with my opinion, but since no one's jumping in...

   I thought it was a fantastic book. It began a little bit hippy-dippy, but it moved right into making a ton of sense. Stuff that I used to know (in my past life as a biologist), but gave up on.

   I met Bill last week at a builder's show. In his keynote to NAHB he said a copuple of things that are good to keep in mind:

   "Pollution is a design flaw."

   "Regulations result from bad design."

   "'Less bad' is still bad."  (think of a six year old boy hitting his two-year old sister with a stick, " I was going to hit her five times, but I only hit her three times...")

    

   Dan MorrisonAssociate editor

   Edited 4/3/2007 10:27 am ET by DanMorrison

4. 
   draftguy | Apr 03, 2007 07:06pm | #8

   i'm familiar with the title and the concept. Haven't actually read the book, but it's gotten some good reviews in the architectural periodicals.

   They had a house design competition a year or so ago. Here's the link to the winners and their concepts.

   http://www.c2c-home.org/winners.htm

5. 
   smslaw | Apr 03, 2007 08:04pm | #9

   I read it. Like a lot of books that purport to have some sort of revolutionary insight (e.g. "Tipping Point"), the basic concept takes about a paragraph to describe.  Nevertheless, the authors do make some thought provoking points.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 4/3/2007 1:05 pm ET by smslaw

6. 
   ovolo | Apr 23, 2007 04:20am | #10

   I have now read the book. I had been following William McDonoughs work for years but not read the book. I highly recommend it. It can never be dated because its about the fundamental understanding of how we have been abusing our surroundings for so long. Written in common language not boring.. (good for carpenter attention spans..like mine) Just because nature around us is so vast and seemingly ever powerful and self fixing doesn't mean it stays that way then we keep growing the population and littering in our own playbox.. now tinkering with the natural cycles will eventually really screw things up.

   arthur

   http://www.thesmallbuildingcompany.com