Green Practices

“The major problems in this world are the result of the difference between the way nature works and the way man thinks.” – Bateson

As the world evolves, our natural resources are depleting at an alarming rate, while our needs for fossil fuels and generated energy only continue to increase. As North Americans, the current way of living will require a drastic overhaul in the next ten to twenty years and as designers of spaces and places, we are the key to the evolution of how society and nature need to join together to improve the environment. In order to respond to future insufficiencies, we must rethink architectural responses and incorporate learning lessons in our buildings that will inform our society on how to better coexist with nature and its resources.

Sustainability has become an important issue, especially among the construction industry that produces over 50% of the resource waste and pollution. Approaches to design that incorporate technical features are theoretically valid as an overall idea, but are there not more passive measures that can achieve the same result? To include the environment and its qualities as a given and not as an afterthought is what truly sustainable design and green practices are about.