ABSTRACT
This book draws upon a number of contrasting concepts of what sustainable architecture might be – that is, what it might look like, where it might be located, what technologies it might incorporate, what materials it might be constructed from and so on. The diversity of responses to these choices is quite bewildering and – rather than diminishing over time – appears to be accelerating. Three decades of debate about sustainable architecture and a search for some form of consensus around universal best environmental practice appear to have failed. This situation often provokes deep depression amongst environmentalists. For example, James Wines despairs that ‘A major proportion of the architectural profession has remained oblivious to the magnitude of its irresponsible assaults on the land and resources’, while contemporary architectural practice tends to ‘confuse, rather than reinforce, a progressive image of earth friendly architecture’ (Wines 2000: 11). Of course, some architects disagree. Harry Gordon argues that sustainable design has now gone mainstream:
After decades of intense effort by designers, architects, individuals, and organisations, a tectonic shift in design thinking has occurred: sustainability is now becoming mainstream. Some might even say it has become a societal design norm.
