Triple Bottom Line

LEED is pushing sustainable architecture in the 21st century. But nothing is mandatory until and unless the stakeholders are determined to work it out in a sustainable way. Many people think climate change and evolution are not real, and the earth is flat. In this world of mixed perspectives thriving with the need to supply today's demand, sustainability has become a luxury for many projects. 

I have recently gone through a project built in the suburbs of a capital city back in India. It's a $40M project in 105 Acres of land. It's completely made up of Concrete and steel. The government is encouraging this project to support the demand. 

Densely populated projects from India.

We have seen how the Middle East has build wonders like Burj Khalifa and Palm Island. These projects are not economically successful but are a great asset in pulling tourism to the country. They are completely an example of replacing natural ecosystems with artificial ones. This isn't just going to deplete the natural resources but also damage the Flaura and Fauna, which will kick off a chain reaction that would disturb the food chain and bring other adverse effects. 

In short, the Middle East is mostly dependent on its oil resources, and they are trying to build beautiful cities scapes with the income they are generating from oil to sustain tourism in the future.  

   

Dubai transformation

These countries are planning to supply the demand or sustain themselves economically for a while. But what would this leave the following generations in the same region? Natural resources are drastically slurped by these projects. The Heat island effect would increase the temperatures of the globe irrespectively.

On the other side, if they don't build these projects, the country's GDP would affect badly and slides towards poverty. I believe migration to cities as explained in "Manufactured landscapes" is one of the main reasons for those adverse conditions. If the government could distribute the developments uniformly, reduce migrations, regulate building materials and densities of the buildings, maybe there could be a change. In short, LEED explains this by advocating "Triple bottom line," which means to balance profit, people, and the planet with every project.