At a press conference at IBS, Devon Hartman of HartmanBaldwin Design Build described his introduction to green building. Pointing out that he had been doing high quality design build work for over 25 years, he told the group that when he learned about home performance and building science, he suddenly realized that much of what he had been doing so far in his career was wrong. He immediately stopped everything to reevaluate their systems and processes in order to improve their work and make sure the everything they did was, in fact, high performance and green.

His epiphany was very similar to mine, and I applaud him for taking the stand he did within his company. I chose a different path, away from construction and into consulting. This is absolutely in line with my feelings about green building, particularly as described in my profile on this website where I am quoted thusly: “I cannot understand how anyone who learns about green building and remodeling and doesn’t change their ways to go exclusively green. If they don’t they must be stupid or greedy.”

I didn’t actually expect them to put that quote on my profile when I wrote it, but I am glad that they did. Devon has the right attitude, as to many others who have made, or are in the process of making the change to all-green, all the time. I applaud everyone’s efforts and look forward to the results.