In this section you will find a compilation of habitat related opinions all the way through to residential plans to improve our standard of living, but not at the detriment of our environment.
Progress
We must accelerate safer and more efficient construction techniques, incorporate technologies effectively, better balance the impact on our environment and, most importantly, we must make things simpler. Sadly, the United States is more consumed with profitability via marketing than sustainability through engineering. Luckily, there are outliers whom we can (and should) turn to, to improve the quality of the homes we live in. ‘Quality’ is more than just how well they’re built or how long they last. It includes the ‘health’ ramifications, the energy consumption, the maintenance, the psychological comfort, and the ongoing environmental costs.
Our Needs
Quite, succinctly, we don’t need as much as we’re asking for or want. I coined a phrase OWYN WYNI (Only what you need when you need it). If everyone embraced that concept, I guarantee the world would dramatically change. Since residential design is my passion, let’s use that as an example. The only thing which should always be one is environmental control. Other than that, do we honestly need the oven to be telling us the time? Or the refrigerator telling us what to order? Do we need electricity run to very room to be ‘on’? Do we need wireless to be always ‘on’? No, but they are.