Green Building: Surprising Lessons Learned

The nice thing about TED talks is that they are efficiently presented, compressing information into a few stimulating moments.

In her six-minute presentation, Catherine Mohr flies through the lessons learned from the (green) building of her home with humor and compassion.

Embodied energy and operating energy are explained, for example, by posing the question, “Can I use a paper towel to wipe up a blob of organic yoghurt?”

The big screen behind her illustrates a play-by-play comparison of choices she makes in building a home:

• pouring a foundation for a passive solar house
• various finishes, including flooring
• rebuilding over remodeling the existing house on the lot

The conclusions are compelling and surprising in the end:

http://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_builds_green.html