Today may be the 44th anniversary of Earth Day, but we have a lot of work to do. Our firm has focused on providing green design to our clients for 27 years. We have called it green design for the last 11 years. Yet these ideas are still considered new concepts to many in the building industry today. Knowing and understanding building science and applying it to home design is basic common sense design. It should be a standard in the industry by now.
We have made major advances in our industry over the last 44 years – since the first Earth Day. We now know the science needed to build healthy, energy-efficient, and durable homes in our mixed-humid climate. We have building products that do not off gas toxic chemicals into our built environment. We have rating systems that measure green building strategies. We have built buildings that provide their own energy, have building products that clean the air, and can create systems to filter storm water run off to protect our streams.
There is certainly more work to do in our industry. We need to address light pollution, indoor air quality issues, and wasted energy. We need to update our building code to impact energy use. We need to invest in clean energy systems and energy storage technology. There is tremendous opportunity in our future to be better instead of just less bad.
Earth Day is both a celebration of what we have achieved and a reminder of the work we need to do now. Every action has a reaction, make yours positive today.
Read more from our Earth Day series here.
