By Susana Wolds
New Thought News Service
As Parliament attendees come together this week to honor the wisdom that each faith tradition offers, a common discussion will be how to sustain and improve life on our shared planet.
The choice of venue for the 2009 Parliament is perfectly aligned with this year's theme: Make a world of difference. Hearing each other. Healing the World.
"This is the greatest view I've ever had at a workplace," said Mellisa Mason, an usher at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, admiring the cityscape of her hometown from her vantage point in the light-filled foyer of the world's most eco-savvy convention centre.
The glass fronting her work station is only one of the scores of features that have won this beautiful structure a Six Star Green Star Rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The building is a stimulating work of art and a premium example of architectural ingenuity. It also has enough sustainable attributes to make a tree hugger blush, including:
• Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood.
• Non-toxic building materials and paints.
• A blackwater treatment system.
• Radiant concrete heating and cooling.
• Natural light.
• Energy and water efficient fixtures.
• A solar hot water system.
• Displacement ventilation.
• Local cuisine.
The overall effect of these innovations is of an imaginative, comfortable space, "built from the ground up with the environment top of mind," as the MCEC's chief executive explained in the center's latest quarterly newsletter.
"It can't be any other way," Mason said with the sensibility of a Melbourne local. "It no longer makes sense to build something that will degrade your surroundings."
As the dialogue concerning our shared responsibility for a green future begins to unfold in Melbourne, it's difficult to imagine surroundings more suitable in which to hold such talks.
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