Green Architecture

I quite enjoyed class on Monday when we talked about how the architecture of a building told stories about it and of the school.

When we split into groups to discuss a certain building on campus, our small group took Regents, and we focused a lot on Green Architecture. When we were done with this, we compared Regents Hall to the science building at Oberlin.
This isn't entirely related to architecture, but the fact that we are so awed by solar panels is kind of interesting. They give off the appearance of being very earth friendly and conscientious of the environment. It actually takes a lot of energy to manufacture and maintain solar panels, and a lot of the chemicals they have to use in solar panels is very harmful.
There are a lot of energy resources that we think are sustainable, such as ethanol, that are really not so sustainable. I suppose at the time when the Oberlin building was built, they were more excited about the alternative-ness of the energy, and they might have even believed that they were greener. It is true that solar panels are better for the environment than fossil fuels, but there are much better ways to be green conscious.

While that doesn't have much to do about architecture, I thought it was interesting.