NOT FOR EVERY SITE. Wind power doesn't make sense everywhere. Fortunately this site is consistently breezy enough to generate the 6,000 kWh of electricity that David Pill's family demands each year. Here, a gin pole -- an old-fashioned but effective winch-and-mast system -- is used to hoist the wind turbine into position.

At the 2008 "Summer Camp" in the Adirondacks.Photo: Mike Cox The green building industry lost one of its pillars this week. Less than two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2007, Gail Lindsey, FAIA, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, passed away on February 2nd. She had been recovering from a third round of chemotherapy when a sudden recurrence of liver cancer was discovered late last week.

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Over 18 years and more than 160 issues of Environmental Building News, I've written quite a few articles — I hesitate to think about how many — but out of all of those, I think I had more fun and learned more in writing my most recent than ever before.

Last week I described why some environmentalists have shifted their position and now support nuclear power, and I described how we might be able to store nuclear waste more safely and cheaply than in the Yucca Mountain facility. So what's wrong with nuclear power? Why not move full-steam-ahead with this much more climate-friendly power generation option?

What's so funny about green building? Email me and let me know, or comment below. Here's my latest contribution to the genre of green building jokes:

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), a Washington D.C. bicycle advocacy organization, along with America Bikes, the D.C.

The reactor at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont..

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

The reactor at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont..

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

Isn't lobbying in Washington something that less-reputable industries do -- tobacco, casinos, and other "heavy hitters"? Doing some research on OpenSecrets.org, I was interested to learn the extent to which the building materials and equipment industry engaged in lobbying in 2008.

The new home of the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT), also known as Eagle's Perch Campus, offers state-of-the-art learning spaces. NIVT aims to address community needs such as wellness, governance, and land and economic development.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation Headquarters is a small office building serving one of Washington, D.C.'s largest peace lobby organizations. The project--the renovation of and addition to a Civil War-era building on the National Register of Historic Places--was designed to promote Quaker ideals, including a mission to "seek an Earth restored." Read the full 12-page case study

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The ULS Report ("Use Less Stuff") started off as a primitive bimonthly web publication in 1994. Five years on, in 1999, it decreased frequency to quarterly. There were two last-gasp issues in 2000, and then it was dormant for 8 years.

I've traveled outside of North America only once in my life, and that was to Ireland in 2002. That was the year they switched from the Irish Pound to the Euro, and it was when they put a tax on plastic bags. We dopey tourists didn't know anything about that plastic bag thing before we got there.