"THE ECOLOGY OF HOME"
Introduction to the popular book Green Homes: New Ideas for Sustainable Living (Harper Collins, 2007). The essay questions an over-reliance on technology for better performance and urges for a return to residential design that is intimately connected to place, climate, and community.
"The concept of a 'green home' is essentially redundant. While green building strategies often focus on technical issues such as energy efficiency and material content, sustainability really is a form of homecoming. The Greek root of 'ecology,' oikos, means 'home,' an understanding of place familiar to indigenous peoples. Native American activist Winona LaDuke describes the task of sustainability using the Anishinaabeg word keewaydahn—'going home.' Ecology is rooted in home, and home is rooted in place, so 'green home' has a circular definition."
“One of the best summaries of eco-architecture in recent memory.” —Green Constructing Systems