Cracking the code.

The article reports the views of sustainability consultant David Strong on changes in perspective that are needed in sustainable building design. It notes standards adopted in Great Britain to limit greenhouse gas emissions during forthcoming 5-year time frames. The path to meeting the targets will involve substantial cuts in building energy use. Strong says that many approaches apply to achieving sustainability and that economic criteria and measures of social benefit must be met. He notes green building technologies that have failed in schools and problems with air heat pumps and home-based wind turbines. He advocates solutions that involve so-called whole-system thinking and the tenets of natural capitalism.