It`s easy to overlook the impact buildings have on greenhouse gasemissions, but the places where we live and work contribute over 30percent of global greenhouse emissions. Although the term "green architecture" was only coined about 20years ago, architects have been embracing environmental or sustainabledesign for decades. Today, architects are transforming our urbanlandscapes in ways which were previous unimaginable. Aided by cuttingedge design and construction techniques, the bold new structures oftoday owe much to the techniques used by pre and early industrialpioneers. Long before the arrival of electrically-poweredheating and cooling systems, people were compelled to improvise usingbasic tools and natural materials to construct buildings whichprotected them from the elements and extremes in temperature. Adobehouses and igloos are just two examples of primitive but ingeniousdesign which are still in use today. The Industrial Revolution transformed building techniques and someof the earliest examples of more complex climate control were designedby Joseph Paxton -- who used ventilators in the cavernous vaulted roofsof his 1851 Crystal Palace. Italian architect/builder Giuseppe Mengoni incorporated underground air-cooling chambers when designing the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, completed in 1877.In the U.S., the former Pension Building in Washington D.C. utilizedsimilar techniques to control temperature, and the inset windows of theFlatiron Building {1902} shielded its occupants from the worst of the sun`s glare.Advances in building technology in the early part of the 20th century-- notably steel-reinforced concrete -- meant buildings could rise toeven greater heights. With the advent of air-conditioning andfluorescent lighting coupled with the availability of cheap energy,buildings started to become more environmentally separated from theirsurroundings. In effect, they became giant sealed boxes where theefficiency of the workforce outweighed any concerns about theenvironment. Post World War II, modernist architecture carriedon apace, becoming the choice of building for corporations andinstitutions. But by the 1960s, the backlash against these building hadbegun. Elitist and ugly, cried the critics.he publication of Rachel Carson`s seminal book "Silent Spring" in1963 inspired a new generation of environmentalists. Architects werenot immune to its influence. Works by Victor Olgyay {Design withClimate} and Ralph Knowles {Form and Stability} served notice of a newera in environmental design. By the end of the decade, Italian architect Paolo Soleri was talking about "Arcology". His fusion of architecture and ecology is most famously realized in the Arcosanti project begun in 1970.The 1973 oil crisis encouraged an even broader re-think of buildingdesign. The same year, the American Institute of Architects {AIA}formed an energy task force. By 1977 President Carter had created a newDepartment of Energy in the U.S.. One of its main tasks was toinvestigate energy conservation. Architects returned to thedrawing board. The famous names of today all set about crafting designswhich have since become landmarks in environmental design. Norman Foster described his Willis Faber & Dumas Headquartersin Ipswich, UK {1975} as: "a pioneering example of energy-consciousdesign that challenged accepted thinking about the office building."The Pompidou Centre in Paris opened its doors in 1977. The inside outdesign dreamt up by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano is still one of thebest examples of high-tech environmental architecture. In the sameyear, Sim Van der Ryn created the Bateson Building in Sacramento, California, a model of energy efficiency and conservation. After becoming the first person to build a solar-powered house in 1977, the pioneering American architect William McDonoughbegan forging a reputation as a leading light in su
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