WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN?

Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however, the environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit. (http://en.wikipedia.org)

Environmental design is often confused with eco-design, also known as green design, but the two are not the same. Eco-design is one aspect of environmental design, and addresses sustainability concerns, but environmental design is a much broader discipline that involves taking the surrounding environment into account when planning a design. Successful environmental design is a synergy between a building, landscape, or even a product and its surroundings, to the benefit of both.

Modern environmental design still uses many concepts passed down from the ancients, and new technology and ideas continuously evolve. Various cultures around this time also created solar panels from curved sheets of metal that could capture the heat of the sun and turn it into usable heat for cooking, bathing, and home comfort. Various energy crises over the years have led architects and city planners to plan buildings around the relative location of the sun and other natural formations like trees, mountains, and bodies of water in attempts to increase energy efficiency.

Environmental design applies to outdoor design as well.Responsible landscape designers will only use plants native to the region to avoid the invasion of foreign species, and desert gardens are likely to be ‘xeriscaped’, using cactus in rock and pebble beds to eliminate the need for irrigation.

At its root, environmental design is not necessarily about new technology, although recent advances have furthered the field considerably. It is about using what is already there, instead of demolishing and levelling a building site, for example. Working with the imperfections and unique aspects of each individual site ultimately makes the end product operate more smoothly, at a lower cost.