Raising the Floor

Before you good folks in the Volunteer State start rounding up the feathers and bringing that tar pot to a full roiling boil, let me qualify my position by first reminding everyone that we are talking about a 7 and 6 season (4 and 4 in the conference, despite all the pre-season bravado) and an embarrassing spankin' at the hands of Virginia Tech in a so-so "December" bowl game, but perhaps even more important, please consider that the alma mater of your humble commentator is known in college football as "the coaches' graveyard."

In my lifetime as a long-suffering, loyal and devoted fan I have watched the taillights of multiple "high potential" coaches and their staffs roll off into the night toward the promised land of juicy contracts, state-of-the-art training facilities, and the blindingly bright lights of overflowing stadiums. There may not be another soul anywhere who can so honestly claim to "feel your pain."

Perhaps hell hath no fury like a student body (or a well funded athletic booster club) scorned. Get over it.

First of all, if you've never had your heart broken you have no business reading my newsletter to begin with. I have nothing to say to you. Second, just remember that what goes around comes around and that revenge is a dish best served cold. Even better with sweet tea and grits. Time is on your side.

Besides, this is not about football anyway. It's about looking ahead.

I suppose it's no great surprise that with all that has happened this week a little news story out of California, about how the state has adopted a new green building code-it takes effect statewide at the beginning of 2011-would get lost "below the fold," as the old newspaper guys would say. However, it might turn out to be a bigger deal than it appears at first blush.

Despite the high volume whining from the usual suspects who reside in the camps that have never seen a glass as "half full" and who wrote letters to the decision makers denouncing the proposed adoption of the first building code of its kind (USGBC, for example, claimed that the new code "could result in confusion for builders, local governments and the public" and rejected the notion suggested by many that the organization wants to protect its market share in a lucrative "verification" arena) the measure was passed by the California Building Standards Commission. The Governor lauded it as "the foundation for the move to greener buildings constructed with more environmentally advanced building practices that decrease waste, reduce energy use and conserve resources."

The new Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN) may sport only California Zip Codes for now but for those who are willing to step back and consider the big picture this may prove to be a shockingly clear glimpse into the proverbial crystal ball.

Remember just a few decades ago, in the good old days of the muscle cars when anything less than a 300 horsepower V-8 was a ride for sissies, and yet California started requiring special smog control devices on units sold/registered in the Golden State?

Well, the winds of change continue to blow predominantly from west to east, and with the approval of the National Green Building Standard (ICC-700) for residential construction in January of 2009 and the announcement a few months later that the International Code Council had started work on a green commercial building code, the International Green Construction Code (due to be available for adoption in the first quarter of 2012), it is only a matter of time until the floor is raised for everybody-that more demanding standards of performance in buildings are in effect nationwide.

Which brings me back to those heart-wrenching news images from Haiti. As one clearly exhausted, sunburned national news anchor pointed out from on-location in his interview on the subject with a former U.S president, perhaps the rebuilding of that Caribbean capitol will be predicated on modern building codes and standards that will provide a greater assurance of security, stability, and sustainability for its residents.

And while it may be a long time before reducing carbon emissions, diverting construction and demolition wastes from landfills, increasing the recycled content of materials, or monitoring indoor air quality are high on the priority list for most of the folks struggling to rebuild their lives and their nation a few hundred miles to our south, raising their floor to at least the level of survivability can be a goal for today.

Let us hope so. Broken hearts of every kind deserve a chance to mend.