Who really holds the key to the global thermostat? The answer might surprise you.
by Edward Mazria
One of the keys to slowing global warming on our beautiful
little blue planet may be educating architects and
other building professionals about designing and
building more efficient buildings.
Photo courtesy of NASA
May/June 2003 49
How do we dramatically
cut down on greenhouse
gas emissions,
lessen our dependence
on fossil fuels and become
more energy-efficient without
arguably wrecking the
U.S. economy?
So far, no one’s come up
with a viable answer, largely
because we keep looking at
global warming from the
same angle.
The result is
tunnel vision—we keep
missing the forest for the
trees with remedies like
cleaner cars, fewer smokestacks,
more renewable
energy sources. Each is necessary,
but solves only part
of the problem.
What we need is a paradigm
shift in the way we
view energy consumption in
this country. It’s architecture—
residential, commercial
and industrial buildings and their construction
materials—that account for nearly
half of all the energy used in this country
each year. And it’s the architects who hold
the key to turning down the global thermostat.
The government doesn’t recognize this.
The scientific community and public do not
recognize this. The architects themselves
do not recognize this. Why not?
The answer is simple. Most people don’t
understand what architects really do and
most architects don’t have a deep understanding
of the relationship between architecture
and the natural environment.
Missing the Obvious
The biggest problem with the current
thinking on global warming is that solutions
have been focused on areas where
nominal reductions in energy consumption
and emissions can be achieved. For example,
environmental watchdogs and the
media have made sport utility vehicles
(SUVs) the chief villain of the green
movement. But if you took every SUV off
the road tomorrow and replaced them
with hybrids, the impact on global warming
would be minimal.
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