Green Source Magazine is backed by a MAMMOTH: McGraw Hill Construction. To give you an example of how powerful they are, McGraw Hill’s construction related web site is construction.com. Anyone who can get their hands on that web domain is a major player in the building industry, if not one of the largest.
McGraw Hill has been a big player in building information. They make good publications. If you wanted to know how to build chances were that McGraw hill had a publication for you. And when I mean build, I mean build in the old school way – with a disregard for the wellbeing of the planet and a focus on proffit.
So I don’t look towards McGraw Hill publications for moral guidance. In fact I never forget they are a massive publisher trying to appeal to the largest audience. They are, however, one source of information.
So what does that mean for their Green Source Magazine? Did the CEO wake up one day full of remorse and decide to radically change the direction of the company? No. McGraw Hill, being a big player in construction information, has their finger on the pulse and saw where building was going, and where ever building goes money will follow.
So they are going green. Mainstream green but still green.
Their magazine is a very well put together selection of green building info. In fact if you read their articles and answer some questions in the back you can actually qualify for continuing education Learning Units if you are an Architect. McGraw Hill after all is very much about education.
And their magazine reads that way. It is meaty. It has lots of great diagrams and insightful views on building. It is not a fluff mag. It is for builders and architects. The content is an advanced level and the diagrams are not simple. McGraw Hill, regardless of their morality (or bland lack of), can put out a good quality publication.
Of course they aren’t rocking the boat and they very much are pushing the idiotic party line: LEED is great; consume (green products) and consume some more; building is great and lets do more of it (only greener); there is no problem with new construction and now its even greater because it is green; lets shift the cult of brand names to green brand names and everything will be ok.
I like Green Source. I can’t read it when I want to turn off and look a pretty pictures because the content is denser than other magazines geared to the general public. But when I’m in the mood for some good green talk for professionals I get into it.
It differs from Dwell in that it has a greener focus and caters to a more educated in-crowd.
But like I said, don’t expect it to change the world. It is more of the same old, only green.