Sustain This!

Approximately 150,000,000 non-industrial buildings in the United States account for nearly 40% of all of our nation's energy use, about 40% of our total carbon emissions. Residential and commercial landscaping uses a quarter of our water supply. Construction-related debris accounts for a quarter of all solid waste.

With these realities, the design industry must take a leading role in changing patterns of resource consumption. Students, faculty, and community partners of the Boston Architectural College are bringing social change through sustainable design projects. From design-build projects with low-income communities through curricular engagement of energy-modeling software, from City and Federal partnerships on the Green Alley to our Sustainable Campus Initiative, the BAC is putting our ideas into action at the city and regional level.

We are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and practice through partnerships with leading design theorists who help us understand new definitions and ramifications of sustainable design. Our Sustainable Design curricula have a wider variety of course offerings than any other design school in the nation. The BAC takes advantage of its distinct urban campus by teaching a broad array of design disciplines in order to help our own students research and design community interventions.

Sustainable design isn't merely the reduction of harm. At the BAC, it includes building relationships, sustaining cities, and developing a committed network of change.

Curated by Cara Armstrong, Herb Childress, and Karen Nelson