Foundations: Design and the Forces of Nature Part Two
by William McDonough

Fire

Fire is the most dramatic symbol of the human ability to harness natural energy. Energy is required to achieve comfort and convenience and to transform materials to useful effect. Designers are encouraged to invest their designs with the ability to operate based on on-site renewable energy sources, insofar as is possible, without reliance on fossil fuels or remote electrical generation. It is possible, given technologies and materials available today, to create buildings that maintain comfort levels passively without fossil fuels. This should be considered a minimum condition of energy design.

• Designs should interact with renewable natural energy flows. Solar energy should be evaluated in terms of its efficiency as well as the ways in which inhabitants and visitors enjoy the sunlight throughout the annual cycle. This implies an understanding of solar access and care for proper screening and shading techniques.
   
• Possibilities for on-site energy production must be considered, and accommodations should be incorporated into design.
   
• Buildings should, wherever possible, be net exporters of energy.
   
• Water heating shall be from renewable resources and be efficiently incorporated into the design.
   
• Transportation requirements should be considered in terms of their impact on overall energy consumption. Pedestrians and bicyclists should have priority. Mass transit should be efficient and available, and private automobile use should be discouraged. Allowances for automobiles should be carefully considered for their present and future implications with regard to energy use, urban planning and social effect. Auto services should anticipate alternative fuel strategies.
   
• The relationship between the design and the power grid should be considered. Minimum impact on energy demand from the grid is a goal; the value of decentralized energy sources should also be considered.
   
• The energy “embodied” in the building materials can have a significant impact on the energy consumption of the project. Embodied energy refers to all the energy necessary to extract, refine, transform and utilize the materials.

Water

Water is the most basic element of life on the planet and can be celebrated as a fundamental life-giving resource. Opportunities to create understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of water throughout the design of buildings, infrastructure and landscapes are encouraged. Designs should recognize the communal, cultural, historical, spiritual and poetic possibilities of the use of water and its central role as a precondition for life.

• Water use must be carefully accounted for throughout the entire design process.
   
• Water sources must be protected from contamination and careful consideration given to efficiency techniques at every step.
   
• Potable water should only be used for life-sustaining functions.
   
• Water from aquifers, rainwater, surface runoff water, gray water, and any water used for sewage transport or processing systems should all be considered within a cyclical concept.
   
• Wastewater must be returned to the earth in a beneficial manner. Organic treatment systems should be considered.
   
• No ground water contamination should result from any use of water resources related to the construction or operation of any of the project’s facilities.
   
• Design shall consider rainwater and surface runoff water as possible resources for inhabitants and in building systems.
   
• Design should minimize impermeable ground cover.
   
• Gray water can be treated and applied to practical or natural purposes suitable to its characteristics.
   
• Water used in any process-related activity shall be put back into circulation, and toxic chemicals or heavy metals should be minimized. All discharges of process related water shall meet drinking-water standards.
   
• Water, if used for sewage treatment or transportation, shall be restored to drinking-water standards prior to distribution or reuse.

Spirit

This most ineffable of elements is also the most human. Concern for sustainability is more than a matter of compliance with industrial regulation or environmental impact analysis. It embraces a commitment to conceive of design in the context of time, place and principled action, which implies accepting the value of all life and the rightful human place in nature. To understand kinship with all of life, people must be able to experience firsthand the feeling of belonging to the Earth in a particular place. Designing and living in sustainable architecture honors our place in the world; mediating human purpose and the needs of nature, it models a reciprocal relationship between people and their surroundings.

The presence of spirit ensures that design will be seen as only part of the solution to the world’s problems. Spirit evokes humility, a sense of awe in the majesty of life. Adopting the principle of humility, designers can come to understand the inherent limitations of directing both human desires and natural processes.

Design may encourage a sense of permanence and community, but it cannot legislate it. Similarly, our current understanding of the laws of nature cannot be the only criterion for evaluating a design. But design solutions can present an aesthetic statement that engages society in honoring and more deeply understanding the human place in the natural world.

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