Bringing design to life Bringing design to life 
1. Includes the whole system, not just parts of it.
2. Recognizes the ecosystem's dynamic character, presenting a moving picture rather than a still photograph of terrains.
3. Uses the widest definition of environments – natural, physical, economic, social, and cultural.
4. Encompasses both urban and rural activities
5. Is based on natural geographical units such as watersheds, rather than on political boundaries. An example of a species range.
6. Embraces all levels of activity–local, regional, national, and international; Coastal Zone Management.
“Designs that minimize environmental impacts while meeting economic constraints cannot be developed without”
“clear and comprehensive tools for assessing those impacts.”
“We have largely failed to consider the parallel set of accounts that link designs to the health of ecosystems."
1 acres of abused land
2 kilowatt hours of energy
3 gallons of water
4 pounds of eroded soil
5 morbidity rate of increases over existing or ambient disease rate due to pollution
6 decibels of noise above tolerable limits leading to hearing impairment.
and all the other direct and indirect impacts of a design
“Just as standard accounting procedures (practices) allow us to determine how money is acquired and spent, ecological accounting procedures provide a way of tracking ecologically relevant variables.”
economic accounting and ecological accounting
"New applications of ecological accounting are also providing a way of relating resource flows to the landscapes that sustain us."
". . . to calculate the land area it would require to sustainably provide the . . . . 12.5 acres per capita [person] . . . required to provide basic resources for the region – an area twenty-two times larger than the region itself."
“This kind of result challenges us to think more carefully about our patterns of consumption and practices of design."
“Ecological accounting encourages us to ask tough questions and seek detailed answers.”
“Designs that minimize environmental impacts while meeting economic constraints cannot be developed without” … “clear and comprehensive tools for assessing those impacts.”
"setting up accounts for energy, water, materials, and other variables provides critical guidance. . . ."
NEED
Sources to consult:
