Design Smarter, Not Harder

I completely agree with the statement that sustainability, especially in architecture is incredibly hard to project and to project successfully onto others. I would have to say this is because to design, and even convince a client that the sustainable design decisions come with baggage as far as cost or upkeep. This creates a somewhat alternative lifestyle than what is expected of a typical building. My approach to sustainable architecture is through a lens that to reap the benefits of an economically friendly, high efficiency and aesthetically pleasing building is also a trade in for the convenience of architecture. Associating the notion of the “American Dream,” a goal to make our daily lives full of convenience, as much as we possibly can...ever seen the movie Wall-e… no matter how large of a consequence it could pose onto others or even our own environment. Tragic if you really think about it! But, that’s also something that I think we as humans are drawn to in a way, anything to take the stress away.

I’ll follow this with a hot take of my own, I have no problem with this ideology. Sustainability is something that I find cool to design for in school, but realistically find myself assuming out in the real world I won't be incorporating passive ventilation and solar panels on my roof concepts as much as I think I should be. And I find this to be because the client is really our driving force. Is it my job to convince the guy who pays me and gives me a job, that the more expensive and labor intensive construction and operational maintenance for 13 years to come is worth it? If I can just as easily present him a building that uses all non-sustainable products, produces the largest carbon footprint and looks just as pretty, do I really need to put in that extra effort? I think I should want to, but if the design satisfies my intentions as well as my client expectations I would say at the end of the day we are doing what we do best, providing services and creating spaces.

I also think it would be a heck of a lot easier to push these sustainable products, methods to generate energy and still design beautiful buildings if I were more confident in them. How can I push these options to my client when I am not even sure if these will be the best design strategies for the years to come.