Committee on the Environment

Use of the term sustainable has almost always read like a cliché to me although, more poignantly, it has almost always read as inaccurate and inappropriate.  At best it is a poor choice of words and at worst just some marketing buzz.  When you see the words "sustainable" or "green" the odds are that someone is trying to get your money.  Building buildings, even thoughtful, notably efficient ones, is not sustainable - even if human population were stable, which it is not.  If the word "sustainable" were replaced with "postponable" it would certainly get my attention:  I would think "Wow, somebody might actually be considering what they are saying."

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Obie Bowman FAIA
Principal
Obie G. Bowman, FAIA, Architect
Healdsburg CA
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'Sustainable growth' is an oxymoron!
But the good thing about the overuse of the terms sustainability and green, even though thus denigrated, is that they have become part of the zeitgeist.  If non-believers say something often enough, pay lip service long enough, then it comes true anyway. 

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Mark Frauenglass AIA
Merrick & Company
Los Alamos NM
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