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Green
architecture is also known as ecological, biological, sustainable or
gaia
architecture. It is a necessary tool to
bridge the gap towards sustainability. A
basic definition is based out of the term
sustainability itself- an
architecture that meets the needs of present without compromising the
ability
of the future generations to meet their own needs (Steele, 1997). The idea of sustainable
architecture began
to build a reputation in the early 1970’s along with much of the other
environmental movements. However, there
wasn't much action taken towards green architecture until more recent
times.
"It
can no longer be disputed that resources on the planet are
finite, that the
capacity of the earth to hold our wastes is limited,
that if
we want to survive, we
can't continue our ruthless exploitation
of the environment." (p.1 Szokolay, 2004).
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In the world
in which we live there is a limited supply of
natural resources. At the current rate of consumption many of our
natural
resources are already running dry and more are sure to be depleted in
the near
future (Brown and Dekay, 2001). Traditional
energy sources (oil, coal, gas) are finite and are rapidly increasing
co2 emissions which leads to global warming. We
are in a critical time in
which society needs to make a conscience choice to switch to a more
sustainable
way of life. If this switch does not
occur soon the environment is going to pay the price for humans
unsustainable
life style.
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Now that we are into the 20th
century people are
slowly beginning to realize the necessity of green architecture. The biggest disadvantage to green buildings is that
they are front loaded, and often the initial start
up
costs are
slightly
higher then conventional buildings. However, it is important for
people to consider the entire life-cycle of a building before
calculating its costs. In the long run a green building is
going to be much cheaper then conventional buildings.
St. Olaf College is just beginning to realize
the importance of green architecture on its campus. Recently the
campus's old commons building was remodeled and many of the design
components within the building followed green architectural
strategies. The largest sustainable feature for the college's
campus is
the planning of a new green science center complex. For more
information on the new green science center please refer to the page: St. Olaf Science Center. This is
an exciting time for environmentalism at the college and hopefully the
college will continue to work towards sustainability.
This web page has been designed to provide
basic information about green architecture. The methodology used
when creating this site was analysis of secondary sources and also
personal interviews. It has also been designed to provide a
resource for current St. Olaf college students to learn more about the
new green science complex that is planned for the college. In
general this site is aimed to demonstrate to the reader that
conventional architecture needs to be reconsidered and the real costs
of buildings
must be taken into account prior to construction. Green buildings
pay both
economically and environmentally.
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