This entry follows four days of classes, symposiums, and keynote lectures, viewing acres of new product on the convention floor, and conversations with peers from across the country.
The AIA had an incredible line up of speakers and educators, including: Al Gore, David Suzuki and architects William G. Reed AIA and Chrisna du Plessis. Many concerned practitioners shared strategies, in lectures and symposia, by which architects, engineers, developers and building owners can help reduce human impact on the finite resources of our planet.
I return excited, inspired and reinvigorated about the profession and the leading role that architects, building owners, developers, and even single family homeowners can play in reducing and even repairing the damage that humans are inflicting on the planet. Global warming is only the most known of the very real environmental and resource issues we have created for ourselves – and must solve.
Over the course of the four days, my attitude changed from one of feeling overwhelmed and powerless to make a difference to that of knowing that we can make a difference one small decision at a time. Through a commitment to the solution rather than fear of the problem we can move our practices and clients to a new paradigm for making buildings and shaping our communities.
Beyond Green Buildings:
In addition to the idea of greening our design process and building results, I was excited to learn from William G. Reed AIA and Chrisna du Plessis about a “regenerative design process”. This is a bit more involved process, but offers-in simple concepts -a way to design for projects that repair rather than simply reduce our environmental impact.
I will be happy to share more about these issues and challenges. Feel free to contact me at my office if you would like to learn more and discuss our efforts.