5. Why Sustainable Design? “The commercial and residential building sector accounts for 39% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States per year, more than any other sector. U.S. buildings alone are responsible for more CO2 emissions annually than those of any other country except China.” 7 The built environment is the biggest contributor to climate change, as it involves a one-way transfer of energy from the natural environment. Not only should it be a priority to design buildings that significantly reduce their energy use, but in order to design truly sustainable spaces, they need to be connected to nature, rather than insulated from it, working with nature and not against nature. Sustainable STEM learning environments can offer a way to design, build, and test truly sustainable environments, in which the classroom is itself a testbed for new ideas, void of any restrictive boundaries.
Figure 6:
CO2 Emmissions from Fossil Fuels
Industry 29
Buildings 39
Transport 33
7. U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), 2005
architects
10
