principles of ecological design

1. Solutions grow from place, local conditions & surroundings matter.
2. Ecological Accounting Informs Design: A new metric is emerging.
3. Design with Nature: utilize ecosystem services beneficially.
4. Everyone is a Designer: Ubiquity of the design impulse.
5. Make Nature Visible: Reveal ecological processes in structures.
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Home in Mayan traditional style: knowledge of local materials reveal that native peoples were conscious of both the placement of structures in relation to the sun, and in relation to their acoustic capacity to disperse heat (high rooves) and placing structures to transmit the human voice at great distances.

First Principle: Solutions grow from place:

Ecological design begins with the intimate knowledge of a particular place. Therefore, it is small scale and direct, responsive to both local conditions and local people. If we are sensitive to the nuances of place, we can inhabit without destroying."

Second Principle: Ecological Accounting Informs Design:

"Trace the environmental impacts of existing or proposed designs-- Use this information to determine the most ecologically sound design possibility."

Third Principle: Design with Nature:

By working with living processes, we respect the needs of all species by meeting our own. Engaging in processes that regenerate rather than deplete, we become more alive."

Fourth Principle: Everyone is a Designer:

Listen to every voice in the design process. No one is participant only, or designer only. .. Honor the special knowledge that each person brings. As people work together to heal their places, they also heal themselves."

Fifth Principle: Make Nature Visible:

Denatured environments ignore our need and our potential for learning. Making natural cycles and processes visible brings the designed environment back to life. Effective design helps inform us of our place within nature."

Design with Nature

Ecological design activity

Ecological Design Analysis of the book

Ecological design related to energy efficiency

Ecological design interpreted graphically with relation to sustaining places

Global impacts | Ten Ecological Commandments | Ecology | Ecological Planning | Barrier Island plan project