Green Re-Building Seminar for Wildfire Victims

Posted on January 24, 2008
Tag(s): Events, Green Building, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Global Warming | | Email this

If you were one of the unfortunate victims of the California wildfires in 2007, you might want to check out a workshop presented by the U.S. Green Building Council’s San Diego chapter. According to the USGBC, “The focus is planning, design, construction, operation & maintenance in the context of sustainable development within the built environment.”

The summit will be held tomorrow at the San Diego Natural History Museum from 8 am to 5:30 pm. Click here for more details.

On a related note, a couple of pro-active insurance companies are launching “green” programs that will allow homeowners to re-build their homes with more environmentally friendly building materials, appliances and landscaping, even if it costs more than the replacement value stated in the policy. Fireman’s Fund is offering the coverage at no extra charge to its clients who were wildfire victims this past October. Lexington Insurance Co. is testing a new “green” policy in some East Coast states.

Why are they doing it? Well, buildings account for much of the greenhouse gases that are emitted and cause climate change. These programs are efforts to hedge against natural disasters which are thought to increase in frequency and intensity under those conditions.

Photo by Bill Clayton