Climate Saving Buildings

Architecture 2030 has just published it's 4th Newsletter. (HTML or PDF)

There are many influences pushing the architectural community in different directions. There is even not a blog entitled The Architecture of Fear, rather a study of design in a post-911 world.

I still find myself coming back to the basic fact that, unless we are willing to demand more of the development community: architects, developers, contractors and especially local government, we will not succeed in combating global warming. It makes little sense to me to focus solely on vehicles or to expect that LEEDS certification is all that we need to achieve. Architecture 2030 goes fare beyond that in their proposals.

Newsletter 4 makes a big deal about sustainable architecture in higher education and gives five examples, all from California: Sonoma State University, U. C. Berkeley, Los Angeles Community College, U. C. Santa Barbara and California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. It is one sign of progress that CalPoly SLO has established a Renewable Energy Institute within the Architecture Department. While it may not seem much it definitely shows that attitudes are changing and that new architects will have been exposed to concepts that previous generations did not even consider. Once in a while you find a reason to hope.