ABSTRACT
This chapter explores integral sustainable design, a meta-framework that encompasses and multiplies four sustainability values – People, Planet, Prosperity, and Place – into a new and powerful set of principles for design. It introduces new meta-frameworks for sustainable design that offer a holistic approach. The chapter also introduces the reader to a wide range of subtopics within the frameworks to tease out some of the basic approaches and concepts needed to pursue sustainable design at a high level. It examines sustainable design by looking at the history to get to the heart of sustainable design. Sustainable design is part of the emerging worldview of integration, a time when the interconnection of humanity and nature forms a new deeply woven system that benefits both – a mutually beneficial system. By including empathy across time and scale, depth is added to sustainable design.
