My wife, the green architecture student, sometimes drags me to lectures and events, so I bring my sketchbook and practice taking notes on topics I know nothing about. This lecture by UT professor Werner Lang, “Design With Climate: Building for a cooler planet,” turned out to be really great.

Crazy fact: In the Austin/Round Rock area we emit 1.5 metric tons of carbon per resident from highway transportation, compared to the 1.0 metric tons of carbon per resident we use from our buildings and homes. That means we use 1.5 times more energy driving in between buildings in Austin than we do actually operating those buildings.