ABSTRACT
Advocates for ‘green’ architecture often ignore the emotional impact a building has on its occupants, preferring to focus the efforts of sustainable design on the efficiency of systems. This chapter argues that by tapping into humans’ built-in capacity for empathy and attachment, buildings can achieve greater positive environmental impacts than through performance improvements alone. A survey of evidence from neuroscience and empathy theory is followed by case studies of emotionally engaging green buildings. Ultimately, the author argues for the urgent need for green building rating systems to incorporate frameworks for measuring, predicting and designing for emotional connections to green buildings and the ecosystems they create.
