New architectural forms, simpler construction, and humane community plans are emerging from a new ecological awareness in the world today. SFIA is leading the way in ecological design education. SFIA strives to raise awareness about ecological design and encourage the development of design programs to educate architects, consultants, advisors and faculty members who will create future programs.
Today’s Biggest Problems and Opportunities
Buildings are the number-one source of environmental degradation. Buildings and related Industries are the primary consumers of energy and natural resources, the number-one producers of pollution and greenhouse gasses, and are disease-breeding domains of toxic materials and flawed air handling systems. (From statistical analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.)
We know how to solve these problems. We can create buildings that don’t just reduce energy use, but generate surplus energy to sell to others and charge up emissions-free electric cars and trucks. Buildings can eliminate pollution, cleanse water for reuse, and generate oxygen. They can reduce waste to a fraction of the norms, help restore natural habitat, and enhance human health and well being.
Solutions have been successfully proven all over the world, and they’re not costly, barely adding 2% to upfront construction costs — all quickly repaid by savings on utilities costs, higher real estate values, and enhanced human health and productivity. The solutions are so self-rewarding and self-financing, that universal implementation only requires universal dissemination of knowledge of how to do it.
