The focus on building “green” and green products is now ubiquitous. Builders, designers, corporations and even individuals are giving sustainability serious consideration, and some are making every effort to obtain LEEDS certification for their projects. Designing or building green is no longer a distinguishing factor in the marketplace – it is expected and often demanded. And although vital and deserved of the current attention and positive response, the environment is only one part of sustainability. Now it’s time to expand our focus and raise the bar.

Companies in the forefront of design and development have an obligation to inform, excite and command more from their clients than simply building green. We at Design Workshop have embraced a philosophy we call Legacy Design, which speaks to the full spectrum of design. It says that if designers merge environmental concerns, with economic responsibility, community sensitivity, and art, magical places result. These places are sustainable places of beauty, significance and quality that lift the spirit.

Environment
Human existence depends on recognizing the value of natural systems and organizing its own activities to protect them. Design should fit purpose to the conditions of the land in ways that support future generations, driving value long-term.The concept of protecting the environment must be expanded from “first do no harm” to a commitment to enhance the natural environment or restore it to its natural state.

Economics
Economics is not just about the client making money – it’s about the fiscal impact of development. It’s about creating designs intended to advance the economic well being of communities while protecting and enhancing ecological systems. Does the tax base support the services necessary to keep the community safe and in good repair? Are there good schools, churches and artistic amenities that nurture the community? If so, are they sustainable economically? All rebuilding is not necessarily good. For example, does the community require more public improvements or services than are reasonably generated by the tax base that was created?

Community
Connection among people supports the culture of family, groups, towns, cities and nations and is the foundation on which they prosper. Design should organize community to nurture relationships and mutual acceptance. Community sustainability should be measured by its ability to provide safety, health, pleasure, recognition, belonging, esteem, and opportunity for self-actualization within its boundaries. Designers must provide augmentation to all socioeconomic segments within the community. When designers engage in addressing these issues, they become instruments of positive change in society. Indeed, the major accomplishment of change is not what ends up on the ground as development, but what changes inside people and forges new bonds among them.

Art
Beauty is a timeless quality. It helps create real destinations that bring us meaning and act as a restorative on the human spirit. It boosts economic value, supports viability and attracts capital, helping to ensure a project’s longevity. The Legacy approach strives to create places that are innovative and enticing. The goal of such places is to lift the spirit of the community.

When the four elements are in balance, the ideal profile for any project will be formed. With this broader consciousness comes a broader accountability and the need to create a process by which projects can be measured in all areas to ensure that they continuously move closer to the ideal. By measuring, we become accountable for the work we do.

How to merge ecological, economic, community and art with the needs of all societies in an ethical manner is clearly no small task. But it must begin by people asking the tough questions—and designers are the right people to do the asking.

Who is responsible for the creation of institutions, programs and parks? Is it the government? Is it the developer? Is it the community itself? What good is it to plan for a park when there’s no money to build it, to maintain it, to sustain it? We would be creating a trash filled field, the perfect location for a drug deal or a homeless camp in years to come.

How can designers or developers think of creating communities, in this country or third world countries, that fail to nurture the spirit, that are not sustainable on every level?

As the leaders in the process, designers have an obligation to ensure that what is created is indeed sustainable on every level. As a child once asked, “If people can’t read, live together in peace, have meaningful jobs, feel safe and uplifted, have we really sustained the planet?”

It is the designer’s responsibility, even mandate, to take action not direction. We need to figure out, in every project, what measures must be taken in order to do it right… to move clients hearts, minds and purses to the bigger picture and give them the opportunity to create legacies.