Sustainable building design programs such as LEED, by the US Green Building Council, are a good  general set of standards but don’t offer a holistic solution to an underlying problem – the industrial age business model guiding virtually all manufacturing. There was no central design strategy for industrialization – no master plan. If we recognize the remarkable positive effects of industrialization – such as the quickest route to improved living standards – then we must also acknowledge the equally negative consequences. It’s foolish, and eventually fatal, to ignore industrialization’s unavoidable detrimental repercussions and unsustainable foundation.

We can utilize those to transition building development and design methodology from industrial to sustainable. To do this, we must address the four key components underpinning the current system – raw material supply (ecology), access to motive power (energy), effect on people and culture (society), and financial impact (economy). These four issues should organize and reshape our thinking. A path to sustainability is achievable through measured logical steps rather than engaging in random acts of green.

Below is a template we use with our clients to organize sustainable design strategies in a manageable, organized, and systematic framework that charts a clear path away from industrial age toward sustainable age practices. Each column addresses the four key components of industrialization, and from top to bottom strategies more intensive and more sustainable going from green, to greener, to greenest. Within each box are a collection of actionable strategies, and way of thinking, that build upon and interconnect with those in adjacent boxes. Click on any box to get more specific information (currently, only RP is active):

Brief descriptions of each box are as follows:

Ecology

• Resource Preservation: Although it’s easy to see the planet as a bottomless well of resource wealth, but we’re starting to realize that raw materials are not limitless and natural resources are being stretched to the breaking point. We need to develop plans that conserve valuable material stocks.
• Waste Reduction: Generally speaking, typical industrial manufacturing generates more waste than finished goods. We need to make waste minimization a priority.
• Closed Loop Systems: In addition to conserving resources and reducing waste, we must rethink waste entirely. In nature, the byproduct of one process is the food for another. Our systems must strive to emulate natural systems.

Energy

• Energy Conservation: More energy can be saved on the consumption side of the equation through improved efficiency and conservation than any other immediate action.
• Embodied Energy: Every product made requires energy to manufacture. We need to be knowledgeable and aware of those that consume the least energy to produce and encourage their selection.
• Alternative Supply: In addition to conservation initiatives and reduced embodied energy, renewable fuel alternatives to feed growing demand will be required. The supply side of the equation must be restructured.

Society

• Toxin Elimination: A tragically small percentage of building products have been tested for health impacts due to long term human exposure. And those that have been tested, are already known to be harmful. Yet our buildings are filled with these toxic products.
• Community Engagement: One size fits all solutions are steadily becoming impracticable. Mass customization based on specific local needs is becoming the norm. Individual personalization, self expression, historical context, and connection to community are rapidly becoming the minimum expectation. Meaningful design has to cultivate a relationship with real people where they are.
• Nurturing Environments: We live, work, and play in toxic environments disconnected to the outside world. Even in many polluted cities, indoor air quality is worse than outdoor air. Rather than poisoning us, our environments should be nurturing and enriching.

Economy

• Net Zero Cost: Financial capital is a resource in equal need of conservation. At an absolute minimum, strategies which preserve resources, conserve energy, and eliminate toxins should be done without increased cost. The first step should be painless and easy.
• Life Cycle Cost: Deeper commitment will promote a different means of accounting deep value. A move away from disposable culture will assist in evaluating products where past, present, and future benefit are equally considered.
• Ecosystem Cost: Current cap and trade legislation being discussed is just the tip of the iceberg in a dramatic shift away from the practice of externalities. Twenty-first century corporations must incorporate ecosystem costs on their balance sheet in order to be viable.