Thinking about the day after tomorrow: new perspectives on sustainable building

Abstract

Sustainable development, and with it sustainable construction, is a continuously evolving concept. This has resulted in several iterations of “green” building – from early notions of durability, flexibility, natural building and returning to self-sufficiency, to the currently dominant approach of eco-efficiency. This paper argues that while the past decade or more has seen many initiatives developed around sustainable building and construction, the contribution of these to the global sustainability project is neither sufficient in scope and tempo to achieve the transition to a more sustainable world before critical tipping points are reached, nor is it necessarily progress in the right direction. The problem with these first iterations is that they are trying to do a bad thing better. However, it is necessary to start thinking outside the boundaries currently placed on innovation by the need to stay within a range of practices acceptable to the dominant conventions of both industry and society. The paper discusses one such possible point of departure, that of the ecological paradigm, based on a different worldview of humanity and nature working together as one interconnected intelligence to create a net positive impact, not just reducing a negative impact, and put forward some thoughts on how a shift to an ecological view of the world influences thinking around sustainable building and construction.