ABSTRACT
At this, the beginning of a new millennium, the buildings of civilization are aging, and construction is increasingly squeezed between shortages of cheap materials and energy and the scarcity of unpopulated environment for discarded buildings, wastes, and their impact. For its purposes this chapter uses the general principles of energy processing, biogeochemical cycling, and emergy evaluation (spelled with an “m”) to explain the patterns of construction and recycle that emerge as sustainable in self-organization on any system and any scale. With the help of analogous ecosystem examples, this chapter suggests ways to improve building construction, economic management, and the handling of materials now and in the times of declining availability of fuels and virgin materials ahead.
