It's hard to judge progress by looking at big-name examples, such as that truly bizarre Hearst Building. Big-name public archtecture seems to be designed first and foremost to create a brand for the architect rather than meet client needs. And the trickle-down of this attitude is widespread in architecture.

The residence building at the Hotchkiss school was much more encouraging ... incorporate the green functionality in well-established classic designs. An even better step would be if the architect's name wasn't even on it, to reduce the chance of an ego-trip.