Sometimes cliches are only poorly stated truths. But how can we ever learn which are meaningful and which are just drivel? Take the oft-described physical beauty of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. God, she sounds exotic. Are we the victims of a royal-family marketing campaign that was launched thousands of…

My neighbor Francine Marcel first asked if I would visit Santiago. I hadn’t heard of the place, but promised her I’d look into it. How quickly things evolve when you’re on the road! Santiago de Compostella is in the Spanish province of Galicia, far out on the Atlantic coast on…

It’s a good show that sets your mind in action, and a better one that actually alters your understanding of the world. You hope as a theater goer to be entertained or inspired or perhaps supported in what you believe. But sometimes, if you’re lucky, a good show will go…

A new wrapper for a tried-and-true publication — It’s with great pleasure that we publish this fourth edition of the Habitat X Journal. It’s been a satisfying and fun journey over the recent years as we identified a need, gathered authors, and found a voice for this publication. Our intent is to foment a discussion about housing and…

How one guy does a lot of good work and still remembers to lead a fun and fulfilling life — Our friend Larry Zarker, the successful and well-liked CEO of the Building Performance Institute, is not afraid to bite off big vocational tasks. But when he’s ready for some time off, he knows exactly how to take time, relax the mind, and have some fun. …

We’re checking to see to how sustainable housing professionals build things when it’s their own project — I’ve worked with a lot of construction professionals over the years: carpenters and contractors and laborers; architects and designers and building scientists; energy auditors, building inspectors, program managers, and even a few tool pushers. Heck, I get to work alongside people who invent the tools. It’s a wide range of…

Certification, appraisal, and finance: each of this triad is a critical piece if we’re going to see widespread implementation of high-performance housing. It turns out that it’s all about the money. It’s an oft-noted conundrum in the North American home performance industry: we know how to build decent buildings, we…