Mouzon, Stephen A. The original green: unlocking the mystery of true sustainability. Guild Foundation Press. Miami: 2010.
Cited in Seeking to Understand Sustainability
Quick read to explore interesting perspective. Stephen Mouzon Read 2018.03
What's the problem?
- The absence of plain-spoken sustainability
- The danger of wishes (ill-thought targets)
- the dilemma of global warming (get over it)
- The fate of ought-to (move to want-to)
- The problem of growth (grow like nature - reach limits then increase "detail")
- the trouble with consumption (move to conserving economy)
- the Achilles heel of architecture - downward spiral of uniqueness (share wisdom)
- the fuzzy carbon focus (too simplistic)
- the supply-side focus (
- the problem of the two and a half billion people wanting "modern" standards of living (move to quality of life)
Define sustainability as keeping things going in a healthey way long into an uncertain future
What can we do?
- Measure sustainability based on things that work
- Understand the six realms of green
- personal
- local
- regional
- national
- continental
- universal
- Understand sustainability across all settings
- Apply the simpler way ("Classical-Vernacular Spectrum")
- Make things have many uses
- Consider the source of stuff (balance local and centralized production)
- Expand our comfort range (acclimatize and build to aid acclimatizing)
- Build localized operations
- Share wisdom (architectural concepts must rely on "we do this because...")
- Involve everyone
What's the plan?
Sustainable places are
- nourishable - because if you can't eat there you can't live there
- accessible - because we need many ways to get around.. especially walking
- serviceable - because we need to be able to walk to basic services and make a living where we live
- securable - because with too much insecurity, people leave
Sustainable buildings are
- lovable - because only loved buildings last
- durable - because enduring buildings use less resources
- flexible - because people will use buildings for many uses when buildings last
- frugal - because energy hogs an't be sustained in a healthy way long into an uncertain future