19. (Selected) FURTHER COMMENTS:

Most comments have been incorporated into the appropriate sections above. But these are two of the more general, "big picture" statements that respondents made about sustainable building:

"A sustainable lifestyle is ultimately more rewarding and less stressful. If allowed by zoning and codes, developers can accommodate the desire by many Americans to lead a simplified lifestyle. Government regulation and lender bias make developing anything other than high-rise luxury housing or suburban garden style apartments very difficult. Sustainable design is part of a larger movement to change the way we live, to reduce our ever-consumptive lifestyle to one that focuses more on the quality of life rather than quantity of lifestyle. Developers should be allowed to create various types of housing arrangements. The assumption that everyone is moving toward single family home ownership in the suburbs is flawed, but unfortunately it is still a prevalent belief among many in the private sector as well as the lending institutions."
(Eric Pravitz, Developer)

"Our species is slowly developing, in fits and starts, a common vision so that all life on earth might survive and thrive, and a big initial part of that vision is a deep awareness of our effects on the ecosystems which we depend on for life. The goal of the sustainable or ecological design movement is on the surface to make ‘green’ buildings, but the ultimate purpose is to utterly change the way we think about the planet and ourselves. Many of us feel like we have looked into the maw of a beast, and we’re trying to do our part to steer our species away from plunging happily in, suicidally, anesthetized as we are by coffee lattes, 401Ks, and sport utility vehicles."
(Peter R. Nobile, III, Architect)