News
The Next Sustainable Design Agenda
01.22.2009 Mithun, Thought Bursts
With the optimistic agenda of our new president promising hope and change, it is an appropriate time to reflect on what we might call the “next sustainable design agenda”. Much has been accomplished since pioneering local governments first sought out ways to integrate sustainable design practices into the requirements for their public buildings. Their initial successes paved the way for federal, state and local governments to mandate use of the LEED® green building standard to improve the performance of their buildings, reduce long term operating costs, and improve health and well-being for building occupants and their communities. This effort has led to a fundamental and positive shift within the industry, as architects are now learning how to optimize, rather than just being satisfied to meet minimum code requirements.
Much work remains to be done to complete this shift toward integrated design. The question remains: will this be enough? Looming challenges await solutions. We have been carrying severe deficits not just economically, but with our water withdrawals, carbon emissions, and chaotic land use that disrupts the delivery of nature’s free ecosystem services. These challenges will drive opportunity for innovative solutions to meet the needs of our growing population. It is projected that 30 years from now, approximately 75% of the built environment in the US will be comprised of new and renovated buildings that do not yet exist. We are positioned now to plan how that future unfolds. The next sustainable design agenda will move us toward carbon neutral buildings and cities, distributed energy systems, integrated water management, and urban agriculture.
Land use planning and urban design strategies that make cities more livable will be key to success. Public buildings can play an important role ushering in this new sustainable design agenda, and public-private financing can leverage public funds to extend the benefit of individual projects. This is not a time for big government, however, it is a time for engaged government to look to every building project as an opportunity to shape the future of our cities and communities.
« All news