As the 21st century hovers over the horizon, many questions concerning the role between mankind and the environment come to mind. In Architecture, the most interesting questions revolve around the home, and how we will build it, inhabit it, and eventually dispose of it.

  The terms "environmental", and "green" have become household words for everything from laundry detergent to decking boards. Consumers are confronted daily with the oppurtunity to help "Save the Environment", usually at the risk of depleting their finances. New products aimed at earth-friendly consumers are showing up daily in our stores, showrooms, and building centers. Along with these new products, and competing markets, comes lower pricing and improved selection. It seems as though the green building movement has taken roots since its inception at the first Earth Day in 1970, and seems to be growing at a very strong pace.

    And why would anyone doubt it? Green building makes sense from all standpoints. Its concerns focus on the environment, economy, public health and comfort. It's about quality, durability, and longevity. It's about environmental consciousness, energy saving design, the use of nontoxic materials, and the use of efficient techniques to construct a more cost-effective house.

  Some of the trends were brought on by economic factors including the rise in wood prices, and the decline in wood quality due to the lack of properly managed forests. Alternatives, including engineered lumber, made from wood chips or strands laminated together have become commonplace in the building site. These materials have proved to be straighter, stronger, dimensionally stable, and usually lighter than solid wood alternatives.

    In addition to many homeowners and builders exploring the benifits of green building, some communities and townships have begun to specify the use of green building materials in future construction projects. At the forefront, Austin, Texas' Green Building Program has had enormous success in its past six years. The key to this programs success is in its marketing approach, encouraging professionals to use green building methods and materials. Rated on a four star scale, potential homebuyers can then decide which level of environmental awareness they feel comfortable with for their budget. Austin's Green Building Program focuses on four principals, including; (1) To conserve energy, water, and other natural resources. (2) To preserve the health of our environment. (3) To strengthen our local economy. (4) To promote a high quality of life for the citizens of Austin.

  These same principals can be paralleled to define what is now green building. In the simplest terms , green building is organized around four main systems. (1) Water: its collection, use, and reuse. (2) Energy: its source, use, and reuse. (3) Materials: their source, content, composition, and the manufacturing processes used to create them. (4) Waste: its disposal, recyclability, and resource efficiency. These principals revolve around conservation of energy, materials, resources, and finances, preserving environmental health, strengthening the local economy, and promoting a high quality of life.

    With the lead of such programs, it becomes obvious that green building practices can begin in the community, and continue into the home, through the windows and lighting, right into the kitchen and bath. It is this overall transformation of traditional building practices, technologies, and materials that will become the focus of building in the 21st century.

  In the community, architects such as Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk have worked to create communities based on lessons learned from old fashioned towns and neighborhoods. Master-planned communities such as Seaside, Florida have found strength in recreating the close-knit togetherness only found in a Norman Rockwell vignette. Along with this trend, some experts feel that more village-like streets will appear, where "mom and pop" will be behind the counter, catering to the needs of the community, unlike the large generic chain store. This village-like situation will allow residents to live, work and shop within a short walking distance. With less emphasis on the use of the car, parking will be tucked away, allowing for small parks, public squares, and street seating to enliven ones everyday experience.

    In the home, flexibility, efficiency, and ecology will be the driving force of home technology in the 21st century. Homes will be smaller, with a more efficient plan based on flexible design, allowing for multiple uses within the same space. These flexible spaces will be able to adapt to a families needs as the family grows with the house. A new trend in alternative building techniques will allow potential homeowners to explore straw-bale, rammed-earth, cordwood, cast-earth, and other housing techniques, while taking advantage of renewable energy sources including, solar, wind, and hydro-electric power. Homes will be designed to accommodate household offices, where laptops and Internet access become a necessity, instead of novelty. Improved heating and cooling systems and energy-saving appliances will reduce energy consumption by as much as two thirds. Interior surfaces will continue as usual, with new emphasis on natural materials from sustainable resources that are easy to maintain, affordable, and recyclable. New materials will be made from high-tech composites with long life expectancy, and durability. Recycled materials will continue to be used along with synthetic materials in various combinations.

  Within the house, daylighting will become more important, while new "smart windows" will turn from clear to opaque for light control and privacy. Windows may also begin to generate electricity through photovoltaic technologies. Curtains, screens, shades, and motors will become integral to a window design allowing windows to be opened, closed, or covered through remote controls and computer automation. Weather sensors on your house will be able to open and close windows depending on weather situations. Window construction will also change as sashes become smaller, locks, handles, and cranks will become integrated with the design, and frames will be made of composite materials.

    Changes in lighting will accompany changes in daylighting and windows. In lighting, Fluorescent lighting will go from cool blue to full spectrum color, as compact and linear lamps become the norm. New technologies in electronic balasts will allow fluorescents to be switched on without annoying flickers, dimmed, and wired to three-way switches. Wall switches will continue to used, yet new systems will allow lights to be switched by voice command, remote control, or automatically through sensors adjusting light depending on available daylight. Eventually, computers will automatically adjust lighting in rooms as people enter and exit. Indoor lighting will become more energy efficient, while outdoor lighting will depend on solar power. Light bulbs will also become more environmentally friendly, requiring less mercury and other toxic materials.

  In the kitchen, safety, comfort, and flexibility will be very important. Appliances will be more energy-efficient, voice activated, and adjustable to fit different size users. Appliances will also be easier to use, quieter, and quicker. Workspaces will become more specialized, with separate areas for morning coffee preparation, snack area for children with second microwave, and dinner prep area. Cabinets will become modular, and even interchangeable in an effort to custom suit different users within the same area. In an effort to streamline jobs in the kitchen, computers will hold all recipes, entertain with music and TV, organize personal messages, finances, and "things-to-do".

  The bathroom may look the same, but it will be more luxurious, interactive, and practical. Safety and comfort will be worked into the design with aesthetic functionality. Grab bars, non-slip flooring, and adjustable lavatories and sinks will blend in with new high-tech conveniences. Standard bath fixtures will become ergonomic pieces of functional art with concealed handles, and low-flow controls. Ventilation, faucets, and lighting will operate via sensors that will turn on lights as you enter the room, faucets as you place your hands under them, and ventilation and sanitation automatically, as necessary. Water will also be recycled within a homes organic local treatment plant, where plants, algae, fish, and aquatic organisms will filter used water to produce clean water to be used as irrigation, clothes washing, etc.

  Green building in the 21st century will include many of the ideas discussed here, along with a growing number of new technologies still in an idea stage. Scientist's, architects and engineers are busy at work developing new technologies as we speak. Daily, these technologies are changing, in an effort to save the environment and our natural resources, while improving the health, safety, and general quality of life within the home. Stay tuned to our website for monthly updates concerning environmental building technologies that will affect us all as we approach and travel into the 21st century.