
Clare Miflin’s article in the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment Newsletter is inspired by Michael Pollan’s seven word maxim for healthy eating: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. Build less: reuse and repurpose existing buildings; right-size the building; consider sharing spaces within a district. For more people: design and program a building so that most spaces are fully occupied most of the time; design for the local community; consider the people affected by the upstream and downstream consequences of resources used within the building. Design Circular: make best use of the natural cycles of energy and water; design for circular material use; and consider how urban systems can be woven into the cycles of the local ecosystem.