What Sustainability Means To Me

What Sustainable Design Means To Me

Leave it better than you found it

There is a great saying when you go out into nature from “leave no trace”, which says “leave it better than you found it”. To me, this means we all have to do our part for the greater good. I take this to heart, and I try to incorporate this into everything I do. When we build new, we are essentially starting from behind because we are disrupting the natural environment. We are using resources, burning energy, and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, among other toxicities. With any project we have quite a bit of work to do, to leave it better than we found it. There are, however some inspirational homes and spaces that take this challenge head on. One story that comes to mind is a family out in Washington state who built a Living Building Challenge home, and completely restored an estuary on their property. Over time, they saw an increase in salmon population, birds, and other wildlife. We have the power to leave spaces better than we found them or at least set ourselves up to be able to do so.

Take only what you need, have many uses

In backpacking or really any outdoor activity, you want to be as light and compact as possible so you can go further faster. This helps your body last longer by not having to carry much weight. In homes and structures I like to take the same approach. When you build smaller and stick to only the things you need, somehow everything becomes easier. This may sound obvious, but folks who build smaller tend to save more money that they can use for something else, have less maintenance to worry about, and a smaller home to clean. Another thing about packing light for adventures, it is essential to have gear that has multiple purposes. For example, I have a stuff sack for clothes that I also use as a pillow. I love designing flexibility into spaces because over time needs will change. A child may be on the way, kids may be moving out for college, or parents may be moving in when they can no longer take care of themselves. Homes are going to be around longer than we are, and they have to serve many purposes.

Use a good jacket

Anyone who has spent time in nature will tell you one of the most critical items you can have is a good jacket and layers to protect you from the elements. Your jacket should be the highest quality you can possibly get because it is literally the thing that will provide you the most protection. The same should apply to your home. Having a resilient envelope that is airtight with back-ups and safety systems should be top on your priority list. A leaky jacket will only cause more problems. I like to create as airtight of an envelope as possible using the highest quality/durable materials. Exterior siding that will last a long time, a rain screen, vapor smart wraps, and exterior insulation, with more insulation inside, and many other details. Doing this right will give you a high performance house that will use next to no energy to heat and cool. Yes, it costs a little extra to get the good stuff upfront, but if you look at it over time it will be much more cost effective. You have lower operational cost, and less things to fix. You have the ease of mind that you will be protected and safe and that will make it worth it.

regionalism

If you look at the image I used for this write-up, you can see how everything looks like it belongs there. There is topography, trees, shrubs, rocks, dirt, grass, just to name a few. Every site will have something to draw inspiration from. When I design a space, I like to have the home or structure blend in with its surroundings to look like it belongs there. I am not suggesting it should be an exact replica of what’s there, because that would be boring. It just needs to add to the surroundings and not take away for what’s already there. Building in a sustainable way takes the community into account. Each part of the world, country, state, city, town and neighborhood all have certain features that can be implemented into the design. I believe approaching design this way creates beautiful homes and structures and really adds to the community. When we create beautiful spaces which relate to part of a community, folks will generally want to take care of them longer to ensure these spaces benefit next generations. We have to think not only about the people who will be occupying the space now, but also about the folks that will take over the space when we leave. We want to set communities up for success, and leave spaces better than we found them.

Ecosystem

Looking at nature everything has a balance of diversity. All parts need to work together. When designing homes and structures, we need to find solutions that look at the entire system of the space we are creating. Every part needs to work together to make it balanced. Looking at how the house sits on the site to take advantage of the solar gains. Using carbon negative materials to reduce embodied carbon emissions going into our atmosphere. Having filtered air with good circulation and ventilation. Using healthy materials so folks stay healthy. Having filtered water. These are only a few of the pieces, but all the pieces must work together in balance while consuming as little energy and resources as possible.

Closing thoughts

Life is long, not short, so let’s come up with solutions that last a long time. Let’s use high quality materials that are, toxin free, safe, and as carbon negative as possible. Let’s create a sense of regionalism and make structures look like they belong. Let’s add flexibility into spaces for future proofing. Finally, let’s design to what we truly need. I want to keep enjoying the great outdoors and I want to help protect it the best I can. I know it’s a balance for what humans need to survive and what nature needs to survive. Let’s try some of these strategies and make sure the great outdoors can be there for everyone and everything on planet Earth to keep enjoying.

November, 2019