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Architects Are a Lagging Indicator for Sustainable DesignEven after receiving a master's degree in architecture at Miami University of Ohio, with a thesis on sustainable building in communities, Vicki Anderson felt she needed more training if she wanted to design environmentally responsible buildings.
A professor suggested the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, Ariz., which offers semester-long immersion programs in ecological design and sustainability for architects, designers, planners and other professionals.
Ms. Anderson attended the program and then joined an architecture firm in Phoenix.
"Everyone should be designing responsibly, and I think part of being responsible is thinking about sustainability," she said.
"I also felt that my profession and our counterparts - contractors - were the biggest drain on the environment.
While everyone needs a space to work and a space to live, we're still destroying the environment to do that."
Although many architects share Ms. Anderson's feelings, and architecture schools are adding courses on how to design green buildings, the consensus is that more needs to be done.
Indeed, the notion of sustainable design - balancing architecture's emphasis on style and structure with the creation of buildings that protect the environment, human health and save resources - presents a challenge.
"By and large, even outside academia there'
more: www.nytimes.com/2006/05/17/busine... (164)
19/5/2006 | Viewed 21,760 time(s)
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