This past weekend, Notre Dame’s School of Architecture hosted a conference to dialogue about ways to be sustainable in architecture and design. The Conference kicked off on Thursday, February 5th at 7 p.m. in Bond Hall with a keynote address from Tom Low, a LEED-accredited architect and the director of Duany Plater- Zyberk & Company. The Original Green conference continued all day on Friday and ended on Saturday at noon with a “Sustainability: Do It or Die” talk from Washington Post columnist Neal Peirce.
The conference addressed “cutting-edge methods of sustainable building while drawing on the wisdom of the past,” and focused on how traditional principles can address issues such as “regional land use and resource management, development of healthy communities and lifestyles, and durable, energy-efficient, non-toxic built environments.”
Said fifth year Architect student Elijah Pearce, “This conference takes a broad perspective of sustainable architecture, addressing construction and building strategies as well as issues of planning and community design. I’m excited that some of the lesser-discussed ingredients of green architecture, such as health and economics, will also be addressed.”