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