Poorly designed buildings account for nearly 70% of our energy use, according to John Picard, a sustainability consultant who spoke at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco today, and the green building standards we already have don't go far enough.

Picard helped set those standards. Although he was once an architect who designed energy-hogging homes for Hollywood stars, he was put off by the homes' wastefulness and designed his own Southern California home off the grid, with recycled materials.

That...