With climate change conversations becoming increasingly urgent, sustainability has shifted from a nascent movement to a major focus. We talked to four architects—two who started their careers working on passive residential projects in the 1970s, and two leading sustainability initiatives at larger firms today—about how they use passive design techniques, how a drive for designing low energy buildings informs their practice, and what sustainability means to them.
Arathi Gowda is an associate director at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and a member of AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE).
“During my career, sustainability went from a ‘nice to have’ to an imperative. We have reached a limit to our resources, and while that presents challenges, it motivates a necessary revolution which will let us fundamentally reposition our entire economy.”