And I'm still finding links

Today will be my last day researching the "Frameworks for Healthier Neighborhoods" presentation. I'm starting to get really efficient at finding webpages and immediately finding out whether or not it will be worthwhile. I'm actually a little surprised at how poorly managed and uninformative a lot of the city websites are now that I've been surfing them for the past two days. The recycling guidelines especially are confusing and overly complicated. Also, I was doing a lot of research today about the kind of tax credits or breaks you can get for historic landmarks and energy efficiency and I was surprised by how big some of the energy efficiency tax breaks are for larger corporations. It has been fun to familiarize myself with the different standards of energy efficiency like the differences between an energy star certification or the "cradle to cradle" approval seal from private consulting firms like MDBC {I was actually surfing the MDBC website which is the sustainable design consulting firm Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart started and they are looking to hire a new civil and environmental engineer. Working for a design consulting firm like that one would definitely be a job that I would consider after college}.

Initially, I had no idea how much research actually needs to be done when determining the actual sustainability of certain materials. There are so many misconceptions about what is actually good or bad for the environment. I've found so many online forums debating local vs. organic and similar topics but every time I popped one up I couldn't help but think, what is the point of this? I seems ridiculous to me to be arguing over such insignificant parts of the environmental movement when it is common knowledge that when attacking ecological or environment problems a holistic approach is really the only option.

I also had a meeting with Rob and Patty today to talk about what I'll be doing for the rest of my ISP. The way that the different projects we are working on will be timed and the fact that most of the architects go on vacation next week means that I will be working primarily with Patty from now on on the various marketing endeavors for the firm and their sub-company that distributes recycled and sustainable building materials. Patty really needs the help which makes me feel useful rather than Rob having to make up random jobs for me. Its not exactly what I expected but I'm actually excited to help more with the sub-company. Hopefully next week I'll get to organize the showroom and help Patty out when clients come to see the different types of bamboo flooring and recycled tiles. I also will get to revamp the inventory and see if I can find any products that I would like to add.