How do green building programs and policies promote the three E-s of sustainability?
As we have evolved throughout the history of human kind, we have needed more room and infrastructures to accommodate a large number of people, therefore the creation of city was the result of that need; transforming the natural habitat into an environment in which we can live and
work.
Industrial revolution and early capitalism have largely over abused the natural resources and people to increase production and to pollute the environment at large scale for long time. The traditional design has been responding to the need of modern cities with some aesthetic flavors for buildings. While the focus of traditional design was mostly response to a need and the opportunity to make an architectural statement the focus of green architecture programs remain on Environment, Economy and Equity which are the three fundamental and interrelated aspects of a sustainable design.
The focus of sustainable design is people as the capital, respect for people as well as respect for the place will naturally encourage a healthy production, generates a healthy economy and finally a healthy happy life which we all dream for.
Global warming, depletion of ozone layer and recent natural disaster in Japan and the spread of nuclear pollution in the ocean the major part of the planet, are proofs that the planning, design and the policies of builder generation after 2nd World War were fundamentally wrong and certainly not sustainable, not green nor clean, instead we have been offered the colorful dream of having the utopia of modern society with an advanced technology in which we do not need to work; a naïve model for happiness which in reality is laziness and unhealthy.
The remedy is through the education of people, spreading awareness of being citizens of planet,respecting our planet means respecting ourselves. We need to revise our habits, adjust our needs,the way that we produce and consume. We need to understand even further to comprehend deeply people and their environment together; the change is more philosophic rather than the way of doing thing differently. We need to get the essence of sustainability and green way of
living inside of us as we breathe. Simply, it must become part of our life our culture, to share on
daily basis, to inform and to be informed constantly.
The recent event in Egypt thought us that people have a tremendous power of changing a regime by saying no to undesirable therefore, we must be able to do the same for enforcing policies,promoting green way of living, a collective effort at large scale. After all, we are all are coming from nature and we will go back to be recycled. Our mission is to be able to have a dialogue the nature, renew our friendship with wilderness as a place of refuges, and a place to learn.
