Not always easy being green

Taking the high road is not always the easiest thing to do.

A news article in the February 26, 2007, News and Observer about a proposed "10-story Greenbridge condominium and retail project in downtown Chapel Hill will conserve energy and resources. It will have geothermal heating, planted rooftops and a system that uses rainwater to flush toilets."

Exerpt from the article...

February 26, 2007
News and Observer
Lisa Hoppenjans, Staff Writer

Developer: It's not easy being green
Eco-friendly condos face vote

CHAPEL HILL - In August 2002, Tim Toben found himself three hours north of Reykjavik, fishing for atlantic salmon knee-deep in a glacial stream.

Toben, a former corporate CEO, had been invited to Iceland by Bill McDonough, a green architect whom Time magazine hailed as a "Hero for the Planet." The other guests included a former chemist for Greenpeace and the head of a British solar electric company. They fished during the day. In the evening, they broke out wine and talked shop.

"What became really clear to me on that trip was that global warming is the greatest challenge and threat that humanity has ever faced," Toben said. "The next conversation was what we each could do." Read more...