Architecture

Architects have always been concerned with the environment. Good architecture responds to, and utilises, the environment to create places that heighten the human experience. Good architecture also establishes a relationship with the environment that enhances the environment itself. While this concern for the environment has always been an important aspect of good architecture, this concern has become more critical in a post-industrialised world where the built environment is now responsible for an enormous portion of the material consumption in our consumer society. Our built environment also accounts for much of the energy consumption, and that energy consumption is still largely based on non-renewable resources. Buildings can, and must, be deigned in ways to reduce this burden, using both ancient principles of respect for materials, context, and people; and also utilising advanced modern technologies to optimise the environmental performance of buildings. All architects share the responsibility of creating a world where buildings not only limit the harm that they do, but where buildings can be designed in ways that allow them to have positive impacts on the environment. Such environmental responsibility is an integral part of good design.