As NAU begins a major capital program to rebuild the campus, as evidenced by this building, the New The W. A. Franke College of Business, it has also made a commitment to being a leader in the sustainable design and green buildings.
"Sustainable development involves...meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992)
This statement, adopted by the President's Council on Sustainable Development, is often used as a general definition of sustainability. According to the AIA Handbook, "...sustainability refers to the ability of a society, ecosystem, or any such ongoing system to continue functioning into the indefinite future... For architecture, this means design that delivers buildings and communities with lower environmental impacts while enhancing health, productivity, community, and quality of life." This suggests that sustainability is not limited to impacts on the natural environment, but on people and the community.
The movement toward more ecological design principles is based on the growing understanding that common development practice is not sustainable. It has been stated that "as much as a tenth of the global economy is dedicated to buildings: to constructing, operating, and equipping our built environment. In terms of materials, this economic activity uses even larger shares--one-sixth to one-half--of the world's wood, minerals, water, and energy. Blame for much of the environmental damage occurring today, from destruction of forests and rivers to air and water pollution and climate destabilization, must be placed squarely at the doorsteps of modern buildings. And many buildings do harm on the inside as well: they subject us to unhealthy air or alienating physical environments, making us both less healthy and less productive than we are capable of being." (Roodman and Lenssen, World Watch, Nov. 1994.)
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