Page 66 - Special Awards Issue 2016 Green Builder Magazine

FROM THE TAILGATE By Ron Jones

New Offerings for the Sustainable Minded

Building Cathedrals
OVER THE YEARS, I have always
enjoyed learning about the building of
the great cathedrals through accounts
provided by a variety of sources,
from historical novels to television

documentaries. The stories of soaring imagination

and vision, amazing engineering and unbelievable

physical exertion must thrill and inspire anyone who

has any kind of role in the art and science of building.

But the common element of these stories that

most amazes me, that gives me goose bumps when I

think about it, is in the realization that because of the

enormous scale and complexity of these structures,

as well as the limited technology available to the

builders of that era, it literally took decades—even

generations—to complete them.

Think about the ramifications of that. It means that

all of those involved, from architects, designers and

engineers to supervisors, tradesmen and basic laborers

(some of whom were admittedly not volunteers),

might toil for their entire working lives on a single

project, knowing that there was no hope of seeing it

through to completion in their lifetimes.

This seems to be a concept that would escape

comprehension by most of us who call ourselves

builders today. In this 21st-century world of technology and In our little corner of the Rockies, this heartbreaking situation is

automation, we find ourselves in roles of serving the demands of at least being addressed by logging the dead forests to harvest the

instant gratification, rather than creating monuments for the ages. Few dead-standing timber while it still has commercial value. The logging

of us will ever experience that privilege, at least not in the literal sense. contracts between private-sector companies and the U.S. Forest

Yet, it may be at least metaphorically possible, if we allow ourselves Service, an option viewed by many as too little too late, nonetheless

to look beyond the self-imposed boundaries of how we think about do allow for use of the timber resource as well as a reduction in

what we do. Let me explain: fire danger. Each of the dozen or so loaded logging trucks that roar

The high-elevation evergreen forests surrounding our Mariposa down the state highway through our little community every day

Meadows project have been essentially decimated in a shockingly carries with it many board feet of lumber, but also a great deal of

few short years, when the bark beetle that has existed naturally potential destruction.

with varieties of trees (in this case Englemann spruce) experienced What I have come to realize in this scenario is that I have been

population explosions due to milder winters—one consequence of given a choice in how I deal with this sad and unwanted reality.

climate change that the trees in these vast forests, which were already Unable to undo the effects of climate change and other factors, I

weakened by prolonged drought, could no longer withstand. can dwell in a place of anger, frustration and resentment, or I can

The results, here and throughout the forests of western North walk among the slash piles and newly exposed areas of the forest

America, are millions of acres of dead-standing timber that not floor, where the baby trees are already reaching for the light. I can

only represent the loss of living vegetation, habitat for innumerable do my part to ensure, even though I won’t be around to see the day,

species, protection against erosion and other benefits, but which have that they are given the chance to become cathedrals, soaring again

exacerbated the risk of massive wildfires beyond our worst fears. into the clouds. GB

64 GREEN BUILDER Special Awards Issue 2016 www.greenbuildermedia.com