The ranks of green-minded architects appear to be growing. The growing number of LEED accreditations and certifications alike point to a larger knowledge base that can be pulled from at the start of every new building project. But, to the best of my knowledge, we are not seeing more projects designed and funded by architects. This one-stop-shop package, though an attractive vision to many architects, is rarity in the profession that ultimately remains a service business to development clients. Even if architects are pushing sustainability, developers are the ones that have to pull the trigger and they often have little reason to.
When New York City residents awoke on Tuesday morning, forecasts already pointed to the imminent blanket of heat that was going to cover the city only hours later, enough to make the groans of stirring from bed a little deeper. Nevertheless, it was no day off for the corporate machine so the trains were still running, the lights were still turning on and the air conditioners were already humming. By the time I got into work our office received an email from the management company of the building we are in requesting voluntary support for immediate, emergency energy reduction:
Printed text is no longer the absolute that it was ten to twenty years ago with a growing percentage of what we read everyday coming to us in a digital format. Though numbers remain to be confirmed, Amazon has hinted at selling millions of Kindles so far. While the Nook (Barnes and Noble’s weapon of choice for eReaders) and the iPad have entered the market late, they are swiftly gaining ground with a new series of features to differentiate themselves. My friend and fellow architect Brandon Specketer has said, “some things are worth the paper they are printed on,” but that leaves us with a whole range of products that could, and should, transition into the realm of digital media. Textbooks may be one of the best examples in this category, especially when one looks at the full range of “costs” associated with printing educational texts. Continue Reading…
Pointing fingers is always easier than taking an introspective glance on how one contributes to a given problem, but it is something we all need to do more of, especially when it comes to sustainability. Throwing the spotlight on large offenses of environmental degradation is part of the discussion and pressing for their solutions is equally valuable, but there should be more conversations happening on a smaller scale that assess what we consider to be the mundane aspects of our daily lives. Despite growing verbal support for sustainability in polling numbers and cocktail conversations, Americans have countless ways to alter their own actions knowing full well that we control the marketplace for an economy that hangs on consumer spending. Continue Reading…
There is a crucial pivot point when something changes from a passing fad to a cultural trend. Be it a product, a practice or a belief, its time in a small select group ends and matures into the minds of enough people to elevate it to “the mainstream.” For Americans, sustainability has yet to make this leap, remaining in the forefront of a small group of hardcore proponents that champion its cause. In order for it to gain hold on the national level, sustainability must achieve a key percentage jump of support known as “The Chasm.” Instead of trying to appeal to the entirety of the nation, sustainability advocates may be better off trying to gather the most likely candidates to achieve the force needed for broader endeavors. Continue Reading…
Proponents of an economic migration towards sustainability often tote “Green Jobs” as one of the reasons for pressing and supporting a societal shift. The pitch is often given in hopes of securing funding and government legislation that would steer the U.S. towards new standards of efficiency or implementing renewable energy. We can see a common tactic: throw out large, nondescript numbers as vague promises for new employment opportunities, but few actually walk through an explanation of where these new jobs will actually occur. Companies would do better to take the extra step and show people that a new workforce would not just be found in constructing wind turbines and solar panels, but that these changes permeate through the veins of the economy that connect our industries to offer jobs at numerous venues.
The growing buzz around electric vehicles has some saying they will be the next great product migration in the automobile market. To date, one of the largest impasses for the fledgling technology is the batteries and their expense. Advanced battery systems, like lithium-ion, required for larger capacities and quicker recharging times are the high cost element for these new cars. But some car companies are now exploring a way to help offset those costs and materials by trying to survey out a second life for these batteries after they leave cars to serve as renewable power storage. Before electric vehicles have even hit the production lines their lifecycle costs could be drastically reduced by capitalizing on interconnections with other sustainable industries.
I can just hear people looking around sporting a big shrug and palms pointed upward with a questioning look on their faces. “What’s the problem? Things are fine, we’re on a decline!” The Energy Information Administration recently released analysis that carbon emissions decreased by a record 7% in 2009. Undeniably, this is great news. Since we began measuring releases of CO2, never has the country declined so much within a single year. The danger is for some to mistake this event as reason to slack off instead of the impetus to push harder. As economic recovery in the U.S. begins to take hold, more than ever, now is the time to tighten our belts so that economic expansion happens as sustainability as possible.
In the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a hop, skip and jump away from Harvard University, presiding over the restored Joan Lorentz Park, the Cambridge Public Library now stands with a new image of modern grace. Attached to the existing library designed in 1887 by Van Brunt & Howe, the new work of metal and glass offers us a model for sustainable, public projects. Designed by William Rawn Associates, the building is not only a case study of integrating sustainability into a house of knowledge, but moreover, the product of diligent research by a team that is interested in sharing that knowledge and progress with the profession at large.
Use of the term is growing. As focusing on our effects on the environment becomes more publicly accepted/pertinent/politically correct, sustainability continues to be a label that is slapped on the side of another box and fit into another soundbyte with less and less of a care as to how it is defined and ultimately received by the public. While having more people become part of a larger discourse about sustainability is a good thing, if we do not take the time to step back and realize what values and concepts we are trying to instill in the word then we run the risk of confusing and ultimately deterring potential allies and supporters. I thought I would take a stab at a definition for what sustainability has come to mean to me as an architect and a writer thus far.