Catherine Mohr: The tradeoffs of building green

The speaker, an advocate for green living, discusses the complexities of making sustainable choices, focusing on embodied energy in everyday items like paper towels and sponges. They share their experience of building a green house, highlighting the importance of material choices and energy efficiency. The talk emphasizes the need to consider unexpected factors in sustainability and provides insights into the energy payback period of their green construction project.

What is embodied energy and why is it significant in the context of building a house?

How does the speaker compare the energy use of paper towels to cotton towels?

What are some of the challenges the speaker faces when trying to build green?

What are some materials mentioned that can reduce the embodied energy in construction?

What surprising finding did the speaker discover regarding the use of aluminum windows?

How does the speaker's new energy-efficient house compare to the old house in terms of energy efficiency?

What does the speaker mean by 'the elephant in the living room' in the context of energy consumption?