Kudos to St. Olaf College for their committment to sustainability!

Biology professor Eugene Bakko’s convocation on September 8, “Sustainability and Serendipity”, echoed the college’s main academic theme for 2005-2006: Sustainablity.

As an architect, I am very aware of the impacts our buildings have on the environment. Minnesota architects have taken the lead in promoting green design and in developing design tools for better buildings. In 2004, the Minnesota American Institute of Architects formally acted to reduce climate change through its Policy Statement on Climate Change. The statement calls for greenhouse gas-reducing design practices and goverenmental policies such as:
– energy efficiency combined with good indoor air and environmental quality
– state buildings exceeding energy code by 30%
– renewable power sources
– low-impact community design
– carbon-balanced design
– material selections for energy efficiency and ecologically sound forest stewardship practices
– reduction of greenhouse gas emission to levels 60-80% below 1990 levels per the UN IPCC recommendation.

VIVUS embraces sustainable design and seeks partners to improve our environment through architectural design.