By Robert Colman

Today was the first full day of the Canada Green Building Council's National Summit in Montreal. Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, gave the keynote address at the event. He gave us all a lot to think about, but perhaps the most provocative statement he made was that we should no longer be thinking about reducing carbon emissions by 20 or 30 per cent - we should be thinking about getting to zero emissions as soon as possible.

Much of his presentation focused on the many statistics on climate change that make us all blanch. But he tempered that with a reminder that humans tend to act when they see a crisis in sight. "When people are ready for change, we've got to be ready with ideas," he says. Green buildings are nice, but I think he had net zero buildings in mind when he made that statement.

Homer-Dixon left us with a couple of larger questions to ponder, however. The biggest was a challenge to reconsider, and shift away from, conventionally defined "growth". He notes that we've equated growth up to this point with solvency, freedom, peace and happiness. But our recent market challenges, and our critical carbon management problem, suggests that endless growth is really unsustainable. But what is the alternative? And how do we adapt?

The other issue he raised was that of connectivity and resilience. He suggests that too much connectivity in the world creates a less resilient society. For instance, the greater connectivity of our food supply worldwide can help us manage crises around the world. However, that connectivity, if it leads to dependence on other countries for certain food supplies, creates an imbalance that turns a food crisis in one area of the world into an international food crisis all too quickly. So it's a balancing act.

What's remarkable about green buildings and net-zero buildings is that they are usually so connected to the landscape - something all too often seemingly disregarded in modern building. Homer-Dixon's address spoke to the way in which green buildings are redefining what it means to retrofit a building, what it means to change our consumption practices, and how this will require businesses to redefine how they work, and the purpose of that work.

We've seen examples of this already - for instance, how some gas utilities are now engaged in services focused on reducing gas consumption. It's a counter-intuitive sort of client engagement, but it offers those companies a new type of business model that can adapt to a gradual change in consumption patterns.

How could your business be affected by such issues as high energy prices? Carbon taxes or carbon trading? What is your business's growth model? Is it sustainable? It's interesting to ponder those questions while considering Homer-Dixon's ideas.

Robert Colman (rcolman@clbmedia.ca) is editor of Green Business.

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