I have always been uncomfortable with labels — Democrat, Republican, Environmentalist. Once you are labelled people expect you to adopt a long list of positions on various issues. Does an “Environmentalist” mean you are for protecting the environment? Who isn’t — but at what cost?
I like the term steward — a steward of nature. Humans are part of this thing called nature — and their concerns (jobs, a future, etc.) must be weighed against protecting other aspects of nature.
So I call myself a Pragmatic Steward — weighing cost versus benefit along with a host of other concerns as I do my best to be a good steward of nature.
This site is a place to discuss issues surrounding the stewardship of nature — particularly as they relate to energy and buildings — a topic of great interest to me.
The Pragmatic Steward 
John,
I saw your presentation last week in St. Louis and greatly appreciate the good work you are undertaking. When I was serving as Treasurer and an Executive Board Member of the USGBC Chicago Chapter (where Ujjval and I first met) I recruited Finance Committee members that could assist as “Objective Skeptics” like bankers, engineers, Energy Marketers, Accountants , Insurance Agents, Bonding Professionals, Attorneys, etc. to assess potential risks associated with LEED buildings. .
Thank you again.
Leon thanks for the feedback and additional information. I hope our paths cross again in the near future.
John
Hi John.
Would like to see an update regarding your hybrid water heater. Thanks for taking time to publish your experiences with different systems.
Come February my wife and I will have lived in the cottage for a year and I should have sufficient data to comment on the performance of the HP hot water heater. Before Feb. 2026 no one was really living in the cottage and using hot water in any consistent way.
Stay tuned.