Buildings have a lot of embodied energy and should last a long time, particularly if they are built of concrete. Concrete is responsible for for a lot of CO2; perhaps as much as 7% of worldwide emissions. But in Seattle, the McGuire Apartments are threatened with demolition, only nine years after they were built. According to the owners (The Carpenters' Union's pension fund- they should have stuck to wood), the reinforcing is failing and would cost $80 million to repair; the building is only worth $60 million. Talk about building to last. The building was constructed out of post-tensioned ...Read the full story on TreeHugger