Environmental Primer, Part 1: In the Beginning

Editor’s note: this is the first in a series of articles on environmental architectural and design issues by Scott Demel, a registered architect currently practicing with Rogers Marvel in New York City, and an LEED-Accredited Professional with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Scott's architecture is committed to sustainable design and historic preservation. Read more about Scott and his current projects on his website.


Something is happening to our environment. The same facts and evidence have been presented to us over and over in the past decades, more frequently in recent years. Many individuals and groups have discussed the environmental issue: researchers and scientists, designers, politicians, active citizens, and our friends and neighbors.

Perhaps you have seen Al Gore’s elegant synopsis of the environment’s status in the film An Inconvenient Truth. The presentation is not preachy, it is factual. And it is hard to turn away from it. It is hard to ignore, because we know that we can see the change, feel it, and experience it.

Maybe you’ve begun to witness it firsthand. For me, I first visited New York City in December 1993. There was snow on the ground. There was slush on the streets. I even helped an elderly woman cross an icy intersection. Now snow is rare in December, or at least any significant accumulation of it.

Last month, the unusually warm weather in New York City had everyone feeling a bit uneasy. Less than ten years ago, New Year’s Eve was a frigidly cold experience. Going to an evening party was brutal. Only hearty souls dared to stand in Times Square, exposed to the wind and cold, waiting for the Ball to drop at midnight. The past several years, the temperatures have been outright balmy. No wonder the crowds attending the event have increased recently. Yes, Times Square has undergone a transformation and now it’s a more tourist-friendly place, but 50-degree temperatures don’t hurt, either.

In centuries past, Nature was bigger than us. We couldn’t influence it. It was always “out there” and waiting for you. Nature’s ways and techniques were part of great myths and legends. But its story never really changed from one generation to the next. Nature was big, but somehow reliable in its grandness and power. What your grandparents experienced is what you would experience. But maybe that has changed.

The “bigness” of Nature makes it seem impossible to take on an environmental issue in any meaningful way. Our ancient ancestors and previous generations felt unable to influence Nature, and remained in awe, even fearful of it. Are we also unable to influence Nature and help it recover its old self? Our sense of helplessness and a belief in our inability to change Nature stem from hundreds of years of prior culture. 

How do we get over this misconception? Where does someone start? What will make us act?

The current environmental landscape can seem opaque. Some of the terms you may find include the following: