Sustainable Design Blog

My afternoon session at the 2014 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo today was amazing. Deepak Chopra spoke as part of the master Speaker Series.  I have seen his specials on PBS and read some his books. He is a wise man - and funny.

I cannot present the information he gave us today as eloquently as he did, but here are some points from his presentation:

There are 2 big (hard) questions in science:

1. What is the stuff of the universe? 

• 70% is dark energy
• 25% dark matter (not atoms); there is no way to interact with it, it bends space/time like gravity
• 5% atoms  
• 99+% is invisible stellar dust
• .01% is knowable, visible universe
• sub-atomic particles disappear into waves when not being observed

So, we understand less than 1% of the universe we live in.

2. What is biological basis of consciousness?

It is impossible to model how thought is produced; after all, how can one see a 3-D world in space and time?

Nature of our Reality = SIFT: Sensations Images Feelings Thoughts

The Hard Problem

There is no explanation for how we understand anything. Start with consciousness, and the spiritual, mental, physical world...

• 90% of the body is bacteria - we are a few human cells hanging onto bacteria - WOW.
• Genes are controlled by consciousness; genes do not work on their own, but in networks. You are not your genes; we are much more than that.
• 64% of our genes are same as a banana
• 94% of our genes same as chimp

Deepak Chopra explored additionally fascinating concepts such as:

Ayurveda: the science of life

• meditation
• balance
• diet
• intellect
• senses
• detox
• massage
• yoga therapies

Self-Directed Biological Transformation

• The body is a process, not structure
• Our body is a verb, not a noun
• The body as energy and information
• We can change your relationship with time - in the present, in the moment

The session closed with Deepak Chopra leading the entire audience in 12 minutes of meditation.

After this session, I reflected back on all the Greenbuilds I have attended, since 2002 in Austin TX. This is my 13th in a row. There have been some amazing moments/speakers throughout those years - a few that immediately come to mind:

• David Suzuki
• Bob Berkebile
• Desmond Tutu
• Bill Clinton
• Van Jones
• E.O Wilson,
• Janine Benyus
• and now, Deepak Chopra

All of the above stand out to me as visionary thought leaders who inspire me to raise my game to the next level.

Who inspires you?

Michael Carlson

Coming to you from the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, with news and updates on happenings and important topics from the event...

My first session today was Marketing and Sustainability: The tools + tips to tell your story.

This was an interesting session with presenters from Herman Miller. Gabe Wing, Herman Miller representative, spoke about storytelling, and HM's Earthright Strategy:

• transparency
• collaboration
• resource responsibility
• community driven

The idea being to "make a living or make a difference". Find your bee story - Look it up on the Herman Miller web site.

My late morning session was on Climate Change. This was part of the Master Speaker Series, with Katherine Hayhoe as the presenter. She is a scientist at Texas Tech, and involved in the ATMOS Research. 

To pull out the bullet points of her presentation:

• Climate Change - it's the biggest health risk of the century
  
  
• It is the story of Energy Industrial revolution: coal, natural gas and oil
  
  
• 41% of US energy use is by buildings
  
  
• Energy use has increased by 400% since the 50's in the United States
  
  
• The invisible problem: invisible heat-trapping gases - Carbon Dioxide
  
  
• The United States has produced 30% of greenhouse gases over past 30 years. This is a higher level of GHG production than that of any other country.
  
  
• For the past 8,000 years of Earth's history, CO2 levels have varied from 180-300 in their historical ranges. In 2014, CO2 levels are now at 400 ppm.
  
  
• Our planet has seen a 43% increase in greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution
  
  
• The data shows a 30-year trend that is clearly warming
  
  
• Ice Age causes: changes in the earths orbit, tilt of axis wobbles and over long periods of time (1000's of years) the earth does gradually cool or warm.
  
  
• Temperature was trending down over last 6000 years, indicating a cooling cycle, until the industrial revolution. Now, temperatures are clearly and abnormally at higher degrees. 
  
  
• Natural cycles move heat around the planet, but they do not heat or cool the planet over all. It is a transferring system; up one place, down another place. (Like El Nino)
  
  
• Oceans have absorbed a lot of the heat, more than the land.

Science shows that more than 100% of our planet's warming is caused by humans. The sun is in a cooler natural cycle, and axis wobble is in a cooling cycle, yet the long term trend since the beginning of the industrial revolution (the large extraction and burning of fossil fuels) shows greater warming, overcoming all the natural cooling trends and more, into a greater warming trend than is natural.

We are facing 3 choices when it comes to climate change

1. mitigate - reduce emissions
   
   
2. adapt - to the changes (our current infrastructure can not cope with changes to our climate)
   
   
3. suffer - some suffering is inevitable; how much is up to us

For more information, visit www.katherinehayhoe.com

Stay tuned, as I'll be returning tomorrow with more topics and discussions from the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in New Orleans!

Michael Carlson