向南方傳達綠色福音

位置：阿拉巴馬弗爾霍普

????總部位于阿拉巴馬的Watershed公司致力于“為美國的南方腹地提供環(huán)保咨詢和教育服務”。麗貝卡?鄧恩?布萊恩特原來是一位建筑師，現(xiàn)任該公司顧問。她說，如果我們摒棄那些令人費解的專業(yè)術語，改用通俗的方式來表達的話，綠色政治和美國南部核心價值觀的契合就不會顯得那么奇怪了。

????布萊恩特是土生土長的伯明翰人。她原本以為，要從事綠色建筑行業(yè)，只有離開家鄉(xiāng)。她的首個LEED認證建筑項目是一神教堂（Unitarian church），位于休斯頓。該建筑帶有一個復雜的標語，“作為自然的一部分，我們倡導尊重天地萬物相互依存的關系?！?/p>

????先不說那些專業(yè)術語，這一相互依存的觀點已經深深觸動了她在美國南部的老家。布萊恩特說：“我父母經常與鄰居分享美食，并用便條表達對彼此的謝意——他們之間的感情深厚，也深深眷戀著這片土地，只是他們從來沒有這樣說過。”

????布萊恩特說，她把綠色建筑實踐稱為土地守護神的一部分——在很大程度上，這是南方人的價值觀。

????“在如今的美國，出現(xiàn)了大量的現(xiàn)代化生態(tài)建筑。但是在阿拉巴馬，這些建筑與許多人的生活脫節(jié)。但是，如果是在門廊上進行革新，或者是采用智能的方式為房屋遮陽，一定能吸引偏好傳統(tǒng)建筑的人，從而實現(xiàn)新技術并將其與傳統(tǒng)建筑的融合?！?/p>

????此外，布萊恩特強調阿拉巴馬的建筑企業(yè)可以使用本地的原材料，如南方的黃木。

????她認為，從根本上來說，可持續(xù)性問題與政治無關。她說：“實現(xiàn)可持續(xù)性的方法多種多樣，你可以是個獵人，或者是個喜歡林中漫步、閱讀詩歌的人。”或兩者都是。

Bringing Green gospel to the South

Location: Fairhope, Ala.

????When you strip away the jargon, green politics and core Southern values do not make as strange a marriage as you'd think, says Rebecca Dunn Bryant, an architect-turned-consultant at Alabama-based Watershed, a company that specializes in "Green Consulting & Education for the Deep South."

????Bryant, who is a Birmingham native, says she originally thought she would have to leave home to find work in the sustainable building industry. Her first mainstream LEED-certified building project was in Houston, a Unitarian church, which carried the clunky tagline, "We promote respect for the interdependent web of existence for which we are all a part."

????The jargon aside, the interconnected idea hits home in the South. "My parents have this web of covered dishes and thank you notes -- all of these social ties and ties to the land run really deep, but they would never have called them that." Bryant says.

????Bryant says she sells green building practices as being part of being a steward to the land, which is, in many ways, a Southern value.

????"You see a lot of really great modern eco-buildings being showcased, but in Alabama, many people can't relate to it. But if it's about porches and a smart way to shade a house, that takes traditional architecture and merges it with new technology."

????Bryant also emphasizes that builders in Alabama can use local materials, such as southern yellow pine.

????Sustainability, at its core, is an apolitical issue, she says. "There are lots of different ways to get there, whether you're a hunter or somebody who likes to take a stroll through the woods and read poetry." Or both.