It’s the Architecture, Stupid!

It’s the Architecture, Stupid!

-“What we need is a paradigm shift in the way we view energy consumption in this country.  It’s Architecture- residential, commercial and industrial buildings and their construction materials- that account for nearly half of all the energy used in this country each year.  And it’s the architects who hold the key to turning down the global thermostat.”

-“Architects design most buildings and specify all the materials used in their construction.  The design of a building- it’s form, fenestration, construction materials and finishes- largely determines the building’s lifetime energy consumption and gas emission patterns.”

-“Buildings can be designed to use large or small amounts of imported energy and in some cases no imported energy at all.”

-“The challenge is that the architecture inherited from our predecessors is no longer valid today.  The global problems we now face provide the basis for a new architecture and a dialogue with nature that will give this new architecture its uniqueness.”

-“What is needed in each and every “studio,” included as a requirement in the problems issued to students, is that architecture be designed to engage the environment in a way that significantly reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuels.  Due to the investigative nature of the design studio, students educate themselves through the research necessary to address the design problem, and- through studio critiques- they will educate their instructors as well.”

-“To set the wheels in motion, federal and state governments should require that all government renovation and new building projects be designed to meet an energy consumption performance standard of one half the U.S. regional average for that building type.”

-“The American architectural community has the unique opportunity to lead the way in reversing the destructive trend of human induced climate change.  They hold the key to the lock on the global thermostat.  If they open the lock, and if the automobile industry likewise accepts its responsibility to increase the gas mileage of its fleet- and if more States require that a percentage of their energy come from non-polluting renewable resources- than the U.S. will have a viable strategy in place to combat global warming and restore its international good will and credibility.”