What Does Sustainability Mean to You?

Oftentimes people have thought that best environmental practices are contrary to economic growth and societal prosperity. However, in recent years this has been proven more and more not to be the case. Obviously, in order to prosper as a society, we want to prosper financially — so that each generation is more well-off than the last and so that our children can be afforded the same wealth of resources that we have, if not more. But we also want to be selective with the businesses we develop, subsidize, and invest in, in order to assure that our business practices align with the other aspects of sustainability. This might mean pivoting our structure and envelope designs to use more renewable materials like mass timber, or expanding the sustainability or sustainability consulting practices of engineering firms to correspond to increasing demand for such services. For many utilities, investing in technologies like coal scrubbers to reduce SOx emissions actually has a huge economic incentive, as they can make generous returns on their invested equity. Economic growth is a major cornerstone of a sustainable society; we just need to focus our efforts on creating a green economy.

This point is perhaps the most obvious — when we think sustainability, we obviously think of the environment, and the preservation and protection of natural ecosystems. Obviously, as a society we need to be conscious of the food we eat and replaceable it is, the energy we use and how replaceable it is and what impact it has on our surroundings, the ecosystems we impact and how we can decrease those impacts as much as possible. But ecology is an important facet that we can incorporate into the built environment as well. Incorporating more green space into our cities and green roofs into our buildings not only promotes a sense of well-being, but actually serves to reduce urban flood damage and reduce summer heating loads as well in many places.

A sustainable society is one that is equitable and inclusive towards everyone. This can be interpreted on many different levels, from a national level to an individual level. This idea can apply to developed nations helping developing nations find pathways to clean energy that bypass a lot of the dirtier routes taken by previously developed countries. This can mean making sure that all individuals have access to ample food and clean water. Obviously, this goes beyond basic needs too; an equitable society is one where all individuals feel accepted, able to be themselves, and feel a sense of well being. In bigger picture urban design, this can translate to the development of community centers, of open public green spaces, of a quality education system. On a building level, we can view equity from the perspective of accessibility; making sure the building can be fully utilized by those able-bodied and not.