ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the contesting environmental design: hybrid green building. David Pepper's well-known work on environmentalism identifies a dualistic debate which questions whether green strategies' should follow either what is termed an ecocentric or radical' approach, or a technocentric or reformist' approach to tackling environmental problems. Technocentric approaches to green design would start from the belief that science and technology can provide the solutions to environmental problems. The smart approach to green buildings is increasingly critiqued by advocates of the symbolic logic for its emphasis on environmental science and technology driven by numerical assessment of physical performance rather than on any expressive statement of organic empathy. Analysis of the Groundwork Trust building would suggest that commitment to green design clearly does not simply revolve around attitudes to technology. As Paul Murphy suggests, different eco houses reflect the different priorities of their designer and/or inhabitants.
