Green Architecture caricature

Provocative words! But certainly architecture has always been concerned with the environment, or more precisely, it came about as a reaction to it and originally ofcourse comprised local, sustainable materials and skills. It was modernization that brought on the waste and removed the environmental sensitivity.

It is a question though that comes up from potential clients and a difficult one to answer - "are you skilled in green building?". My response has been that I design to the principals of orientation according to climate, weather and sun direction, insulation, passive cooling and heating, local materials and skills where permitted and that additional systems such as water storage and PV panels should be integrated seemlessly in the design.