Meeting the living building challenge (interview with Nellie Reid, Director of Sustainable Design at Gensler)

Jan 02

Green Architecture, Interview, Movies Add comments

This video shows an interview with Nellie Reid, the director of Sustainable Design at Gensler. During the interview Reid talks about the importance of responsible design. She shows the influence on our environment that architects and designers have and emphasizes the enormous costs we will be forced to make if we don’t do anything. That’s why she introduces the concept of Living Building Challenge.

Reid says that buildings are the most significant contributors to global warming. Because of that, architects design buildings not just for people to live, work and play. They should realize that effects of their work have a great impact on the whole environment. In Reid’s opinion, architects should also feel this responsibility for the way the buildings are being designed.

Photo from innovationlab.eastman.com

Reid convinces that responsible design is not simple. It is not enough to assume that from now on I will design better and more sustainable buildings. Architects and designers firstly should analyze materials in terms of environmental impact. There are a lot of criteria connected with materials and sometimes it is hard to get throughout the “green wash” and understand what is really important.

Hopefully Reid thinks that the building industry has changed in the scope of sustainability. Currently some manufactures ask designers the right questions. They show what is “green” in their products and what part of their offer is recyclable. This kind of approach has a very positive influence, because designers who have not realized the responsibility of their work, started to think differently. They also began to ask these questions to other manufactures who has changed the whole industry.

The Living Building Challenge was developed to change the architecture and design community the way they think about the direction buildings should aim. Creators want to know what is the possibility of designing zero energy, water and waste buildings, which are made from only safe and healthy materials. Unfortunately, on the way to the achievement of these goals, there are some barriers that do not allow to get there.