The new Ronald McDonald House, located adjacent to Rady Children's Hospital, creatively solves the problem of scarce and expensive land in San Diego's hospital district. Set to open to the community on April 4, the 65,000-square-foot House and exterior courtyards are constructed on top of an existing six-story parking structure and feature 47 bedrooms for families with seriously ill children receiving treatment at area hospitals. 

Being a good steward of your resources is part and parcel of many religious paths. It also makes sense from a purely practical standpoint, as the Rock Church & Academy can attest. The church recently completed a 206,000-square-foot sanctuary/school building that's designed to perform 22.1 percent better than required under Title 24, California's minimum energy-efficiency requirements. 

In 2008, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) launched "Walk the Walk," a multi-faceted campaign to educate, promote and encourage sustainable design among consumers, business owners and architects. The purpose of the program is to help inform the marketplace on the benefits of more energy-efficient homes and buildings, which coincides with the AIA's stated goal of making all buildings carbon neutral by 2030 and helping the U.S. design and construction industry reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in buildings. To advance its efforts in achieving a 60 percent fossil fuel reduction by 2010, the AIA also is implementing a comprehensive communications plan, inclusive of print and online advertising, new media and public relations. 

Today, with a focus on resource conservation and greenhouse gas reduction, everyone is striving to make life a bit greener by recycling at home, carpooling, climbing aboard busses and trolleys and investing in renewable energy sources for our homes, vehicles and beyond. Can more be done? Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC) planners are defining sustainable goals, outlined in the Downtown Community Plan, with an eye toward implementation. 

According to studies compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2004, residential and commercial buildings accounted for 68 percent of U.S. electricity consumption, 39 percent of total energy consumption and 38 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions. California leads the nation in its efforts to compensate for the impacts of building effects on the environment, which have resulted in green building legislation and incentives at the state and local level. 

Look out LEED! A new system for rating green buildings provides builders with more choices and slightly lower costs. 

At a time when every business is looking at ways to trim the fat by examining internal practices with a microscope, Phillip Kopp's Energy Eye has developed a range of products that can aid this goal, by creating cost savings in a crucial area that drains resources -- energy usage.