Time for the Heartland to beat strongly again

Heartland
a : a central land area having strategic advantages

b : the central geographical region of the United States in which mainstream or traditional values predominate

c : a region where something most strongly thrives

As a nation that values hard work, individual spirit, practicality, and ingenuity, the Heartland of our country stands as one of the greatest examples of these values in action.  The national green building community identifies the Heartland as a series of states running from North Dakota on the northwest to Kansas and over to Ohio.  These twelve states make up:

Over 40% of the agricultural output of the country.
Just under 25% of the population
Around 22% of the land area
Around 28% of the surface water area


We pride ourselves on doing more with less, and value efficiency above style.  When urban populations began to pressure development, we built the first skyscrapers.  When the country and the world wanted to move on land faster than a horse, we made the car...and made it so almost anyone could afford it.

And now that we have reached the point where we must rethink how we develop communities, the Heartland is standing up to the challenge.  From job training and deconstruction (not demolition!) programs that take advantage of material value in depressed real estate markets to rebuild property values to mainstreet programs to inspire a local individual to help use energy efficiency development to bring back business districts, the upper Midwest shows that we can stay within the existing economic framework and put our capital to use - both financial and social.

The Greening the Heartland conference is in Chicago this week.  Over 500 designers, policy-makers, and building industry professionals from across the twelve Heartland states have come together to share the stories - both successful and unsuccessful - about how to maintain our quality of life with fewer resources.  We are hearing much about resilient communities, local job growth, on-bill financing, and passive building technologies.  Interesting issues around new building versus existing redevelopment remain unsettled, but the most common theme is hope.  No matter how pushed around the country or region has been, we have hope.  We know what to do, we know what can be done, and we are at a unique point to make it happen.

I encourage you to visit www.greeningtheheartland.org, and look at the presenters, the topics, and the discussions.  Visit web pages, ask questions, and learn about what new and exciting opportunities exist.

We have time to succeed, but not much more time to act.