See a bit more here:
http://www.gbca.org.au/news/newsweek-interview-with-william-mcdonough/749.htm

Self-sufficient agrarian Vaishnava communities should be established in favorable climates like found in Costa Rica.
Hellish cold climates are no place to develop these agrarian Vaishnava settlements.

Unfortunately, internal strife and political struggle has deprived the movement of great progress in this area. It is really encouraging to see that Tripurari Maharaja has got his priorities in order and moving ahead with such projects as this.

Nowadays the net zero idea is novel only because in recent history due to a huge glut of cheap energy (fossil fuels) shamefully wasteful building practices became the norm. People became estranged from the land and lives of labor and along the way lost the skills to build their own homes (among many other essential skills). Cheap materials made possible by fossil fuels made badly sited, poorly designed, highly inefficient boxes that require continuous, huge energy inputs to heat and cool seem like a good idea. Technology became endemic and people forgot how to live without it. Net zero now (especially in the West) means something very different than it used to because we’re so used to our creature comforts we can’t fathom the idea of a “house” without all the bells and whistles that industrial society affords. We need expensive technology and gadgets to make our home “green.” Meanwhile in other parts of the world people are still living comfortably in mud huts.

Unfortunately much of the technology involved in many net-zero projects is not net zero itself. Solar (photovoltaic) components (panels, inverters, batteries, wire, etc.), for example, take rather large amounts of energy to make and are expensive to replace. Also, they may not emit greenhouse gasses at the point of use, but how much pollution took place to make them?

Of course none of this means that I’m against solar electricity or technology per se, just that the technology has a long way to go if it is to be incorporated into truly sustainable buildings.

We will be installing Krsna Balarama deites this weekend! Stop by some time.

The way I see it, our movement failed to live up to the promises of ‘simple living’ because WE – individual devotees – failed in that capacity. Of course the problems with leadership and splintering did not help, but the primary reason is that WE failed. WE devotees do not want to work hard and live a simple life – I see it in myself, I see it in just about any devotee I have met over the years. And those who truly DO want to live a simple life and are not afraid of hard work – they already live such a life, regardless of what ‘the leaders’ do or say. I know such devotees as well and I support them as much as I can.

We have to quit waiting for our ‘leaders’ to show us the way. We have to become the leaders. I know that you are definitely a leadership material… all you have to do is… lead by example… and I do feel the same responsibility on my shoulders as well.

Originally, the Krishna consciousness movement was about living together communally and moving towards agrarian villages and self-sufficiency. Most all that got stymied in the break-down of the movement that occurred after the passing of Srila Prabhupada.

Even though the greater movement is now splintered into so many sects and camps, the devotees of the world need to understand how vital it is that the devotees of the KC movement come together in local and regional settlements for constructing a model of society that can show the greatness of Vaishnava civilization as an example to the world.

Around our Alachua, Florida area there is said to be over a thousand devotees living in the area mostly all making their livelihoods in the secular society because the KC movement has failed to develop rural agrarian settlements that can accommodate and employ Vaishnavas.

This is indeed one of the great failures of the KC movement that happened as a result of splintering of the KC movement and the moving of Srila Prabhupada to the perimeter. Now, the society he started has floundered due to mismanagement and personal ambition on the part of the leadership.

However, outside the framework of such a defunct institution, the devotees of the KC movement need to continue on Srila Prabhupada’s vision of agrarian, self-sufficient communities that employ basic Varnasrama principles, which of course requires a King.

Who will be King?
It’s a lousy job but somebody has to do it, so I volunteer for the job.
Well, I don’t have the money to be King, but there are some wealthy Vaishnavas out there that might be able to establish their own kingdom. All they need is a brahminical council to authorize and ordain them and then they can all rule their kingdoms under the rule of the Monarch Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

See, it’s not all that difficult.

The GBC authority lost all validity at the passing of Srila Prabhupada.