Imagine a building that is as elegant and efficient as a flower. Imagine a building that is informed by its bioregion. Imagine a building that generates all its own energy with renewable resources, that captures and treats its water onsite, that uses resources for maximum beauty and educates its inhabitants.

Hi all,

Here are some great green building slide shows – click on them for more info. They are powered by our shared, open flickr group "Green Buildings and Sustainable Communities"

I was recently speaking with Jason McLennan, formerly the founder and Director of Elements, the sustainable design consulting division of BNIM Architects, also the founding President and CEO of Ecotone Publishing, and most recently the CEO of Cascadia, and he told me about a study that I wasn't aware of, and may be new to many of you as well.

A delegation of the Passiv Haus Initiative from Austria is coming to Vancouver, and will visit Light House: Sustainable Building Centre in cooperation with the BC Ministry of Economic Development. This is a great opportunity to introduce the BC green building industry to the Passiv Haus approach and technology and provide an opportunity for information exchange.

On Saturdays through the summer, the Sustainable Building Centre has been piloting its "Guest Expert" Series. Between 2 and 4pm, every Saturday through the summer, a different green building professional has been available in our Centre on Granville Island to answer any sustainable building questions you might have.

We are delighted to announce that the Sustainable Building Centre now has a green wall, donated by ELT Easy Green Living Wall Systems, with plants generously provided by Linnaea Nurseries and Nats Nursery.

Over the last few days of WUF we have, at the Sustainable Building Centre, been hosting a variety of delegations from around the world. It has been inspiring and humbling. We've hosted Mayors of cities in France, green developers from Australia, teams of people from China, Malaysia and had individuals from Croatia, Japan, New Zealand and far-away, fabulous Philadelphia. We give them a tour of the Ideas That Last Exhibition, and they are interested to hear about the many buildings. Like the Nk'Mip Desert and Heritage Centre, which has the longest rammed-earth wall in Canada.  And the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Operations, which has an ocean based geothermal system that, with radiant heating and cooling, that supplies 100% of the heating for the building.