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Sustainable Building Essay 1

February 14, 2011

What are the benefits and pitfalls of approaching sustainable building from philosophical position?
Pitfalls
Sustainable building versus conventional building is like a child getting adopted by a new set of parents. The child has been following a set of disciplines and behavioral patterns that fit with their biological parent’s beliefs and tolerances. When they come under the new parents care they share the same basic needs; food, water and a safe environment in which to be in. The difference though is that the understanding and beliefs and tolerances of the adoptive parents and child are different. So it is with the Sustainable Building movement and philosophy. In this example the Sustainable Building philosophy is the philosophy of the child and the child is under the “authority” of the adoptive parents (conventional building philosophy). The parent has been around longer, has more friends, has more current history and economic power and their rules are in place and have worked for them and their own current needs. This is the greatest pitfall of Sustainable Building as a philosophy. It (we) are at the mercy of the current market, economy, understanding, and way things are. The way things are are the systems that have been built by people and families and corporations over generations, even centuries. They are systems that form our economy and market; they supply jobs and currency flow. They build houses, high rises and roads. But they are systems that are linear. They use resources without concern for the future; their philosophy is built on the industrial age, an age that assumed man could solve anything through technology and that man could live separate from his surroundings. To change these systems we face greed and complacency. They have worked for so long and they make those with the most power the wealthiest also.
On a more day to day basis Sustainable philosophy will face problems such as:

• Creating a new market within an already competitive market and bringing about an understanding of what that is and why it exists will require energy behind it. Sustainable thinking, in a way, needs marketing.
• The almighty dollar. Delayed schedule and required training can require money and things are the way they are now because they’re understood by a majority and therefore easily implemented. Sustainability requires time, change and a deeper understanding. Conventional builds happen because they are fast and our culture demands everything now. Conventional building happens because it is readily understood by the majority of those involved, from manufacturer to contractor to laborer. It doesn’t mean their right, it’s just the system that worked best for its time and was within our understanding as a culture as acceptable.

With the rise of awareness through negative impact on our world Sustainable building will also gain ground through positive solutions to the growing problems of resource depletion and energy consumption. Some of the benefits of Sustainable building philosophy are:

• Gives the ability to approach building with mind to connect the dots. Integrated builds can and will be more profitable, they just require more fore thought. Thinking of everything from how we manufacture our materials to how we re-use or recycle construction waste will create revenue streams that otherwise would not have been there. Think about it. Instead of having Joe Smith on the assembly line producing a product that really isn’t required but it works in conventional builds, he’s working in the recycling plant or starting his own construction waste removal company that recycles your waste for you. A new economy based on sustainable thinking will be created and people will find a way to make money within that new economy.
• Sustainable Building is about bringing humans and their environment into balance. This means there is a social responsibility behind it that is greater than our responsibility to the environment. It is our responsibility to each other, because ultimately and logically the reason we would be sustainable in the first place is because of the value of human life. The benefit of thinking this way brings about a greater global community understanding and changes our human economics from being more about the bottom line to thinking socio-economical-environmentally. The bigger picture really is; How can we better take care of each other?
• One major advantage to approaching building this way is that it is going to foster better communication between the different players involved. I used to order my meals from McDonald’s as they were advertised. It wasn’t until I met my wife (who is admittedly a picky eater) that I realized that I could communicate to the person at the till to modify my burger and they would notify the line cook and I would end up with a burger with no pickles, no ketchup, added chicken sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. It was simply becoming aware that things could be done differently and all I had to do was open up the dialogue. This is what is happening with sustainable builds. More integration, more communication, less waste, less haste and a better over all process and product.

The benefits to Sustainable Building Practices far outweigh the negatives. A better product and process, less waste and more human consideration makes for a longer long run. If we continue the way we are now, we will run this mighty earth-ship ashore and lose what we’ve always taken for granted, the world around us.