AT Week 2 - Environmental Program

My three high priority goals:

1. Design a building that has zero carbon footprint. I think this is a paramount goal. Carbon emissions are essentially poisons to the atmosphere. The global economic and political policies that are affected by the production of many of the fossil fuels can be just as "poisonous" and even more deadly.

2. Design a building that has the least amount of dependency on the electric grid as possible. Our electrical grid is beyond it's lifespan and in need of critical overhaul. The New York blackout a few years ago is a prime example. If we can begin designing for self-sufficiency in power generation we can minimize the economic implication of such a task and perhaps extend the lifespans and be better able to manage the task.

3. Maximize passive energy systems. We need to learn to have a symbiotic relationship with the environment as our forbears were forced to do before the great industrial revolution. (We can thank Galileo for that - right Herb?) We need to take advantage of what nature provides. People need to be able to see beyond their micro-habitat and realize they live in a macro-habitat that needs as much care, if not more, than their own home.

My three low priority goals:

1. Re-use minimum 50% recycled construction components. Tremendous energy can be saved by utilising components that have already been through the energy consumming process of raw material collection, transport, and component fabrication.

2. Utilize new construction components that are produced locally, (within 50-100 miles if possible), by ecologically sensitive methods and resources. This will help minimize the negative impact that the process of construction will have on the local environment.

3. Design for multiple functions by multiple users - expand the program. We need to design to get maximume efficiancy out of our structures as we do for the systems that make them livable. Why should a school sit empty after 4:00 and three months out of the year.