With growing energy needs and an atmosphere of shrinking resources, sustainability has become one of the most important issues in architectural design in the last 30 years. Dan Williams, FAIA, and Henry Siegel, FAIA, founding principal of Siegel and Strain Architects, give an overview of sustainability programs and how they can be incorporated into the design process. Sustainability is not the formulaic application of scientific or mechanical principles, but rather, it requires a sophisticated, intuitive approach to the problem of limited resources, while at the same time, satisfying the client’s practical and aesthetic demands.

For Mr. Williams and Mr. Siegel, designing a building that is “unplugged” can be done with a transformation in knowledge, not just in design process. They encourage architects to revisit common parts of the design process, like site analysis, with climate and site ecology in mind. Although sustainability can be a daunting problem, there has been significant advancement in how architects can meet the challenge.