A notable building scientist, Joseph Lstiburek, (perhaps even more notable for his annual bash) challenges some popular beliefs about the green movement.

At the next Environmental Energy Technologies Division Distinguished Lecture (October 1) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lstiburek will present a lecture entitled, “Don't Do Stupid Things - Green Architecture, Engineering and Construction.”

According to Lstiburek, “A great deal of green architecture does not work and the failures are not discussed because failures dealing with green don't fit into the environmentalist template of green being easy and cost-effective. The failures typically involve basic physics, engineering and construction practice - areas that the architectural profession has abandoned. Architects are trained as artists - not in the technology of construction. So the engineering profession has the answers? Wrong. Engineers are trained as computer programmers if they trained at all. Where do you go to get an engineering degree dealing with the building enclosure and HVAC systems? Nowhere in the United States. The blind are consulting with the inept. As for government policy? Cash for Caulkers? Home Star? What a mess.”

So, if you want to hear what Lstiburkek would do to correct the problem, you might want to tune check this out: http://eetd.lbl.gov/dls/lecture-10-01-10-lstiburek.html