Sustainability’s greatest obstacle is financial. Investors and developers blame noncompliance with sustainability standards on the supposedly higher costs and lower profits of sustainable construction. But with rapid urbanization, a sluggish economy, and a worsening climate crisis, we urgently need more sustainable construction practices and buildings. The Economy of Sustainable Construction seeks to dispel the myth that sustainability cannot be profitable, evaluate current architectural practices and models, and introduce materials and methods to maximize the environmental, social, and economic performance of buildings. Essays, reports, and case studies examine the relationship between commercial and sustainable values and explore the paths that construction will take in the twenty-first century.

With contributions by Shlomo Angel, Marc Angélil, Alejandro Aravena, Uday Athavankar, Pierre Bélanger, Gail S. Brager, Lucas Bretschger, Aron Chang, David Chipperfield, Matias Echanove, Yassi Eskandari-Qajar, Annika Feige, Harry Gugger, Dirk Hebel, Nathalie Janson, Francis Kéré, Gwendolyn Kerschbaumer, Nirmal Kishnani, Lena Kleinheinz, Keya Kunte, Anne Lacaton, Ashok B. Lall, Hansjürg Leibundgut, Patrick McAllister, Rahul Mehrotra, Geeta Mehta, Sheela Patel, Ann Pettifor, Philipp Rode, Ilka & Andreas Ruby, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, Werner Sobek, Rolf Soiron, Something Fantastic, Michael Sorkin, Rahul Srivastava, Vishnu Swaminathan, Jean-Philippe Vassal, Holger Wallbaum, Martina Wengle, Zhang Yue.

Sustainability’s greatest obstacle is financial. Investors and developers blame noncompliance with sustainability standards on the supposedly higher costs and lower profits of sustainable construction. But with rapid urbanization, a sluggish economy, and a worsening climate crisis, we urgently need more sustainable construction practices and buildings. The Economy of Sustainable Construction seeks to dispel the myth that sustainability cannot be profitable, evaluate current architectural practices and models, and introduce materials and methods to maximize the environmental, social, and economic performance of buildings. Essays, reports, and case studies examine the relationship between commercial and sustainable values and explore the paths that construction will take in the twenty-first century.

With contributions by Shlomo Angel, Marc Angélil, Alejandro Aravena, Uday Athavankar, Pierre Bélanger, Gail S. Brager, Lucas Bretschger, Aron Chang, David Chipperfield, Matias Echanove, Yassi Eskandari-Qajar, Annika Feige, Harry Gugger, Dirk Hebel, Nathalie Janson, Francis Kéré, Gwendolyn Kerschbaumer, Nirmal Kishnani, Lena Kleinheinz, Keya Kunte, Anne Lacaton, Ashok B. Lall, Hansjürg Leibundgut, Patrick McAllister, Rahul Mehrotra, Geeta Mehta, Sheela Patel, Ann Pettifor, Philipp Rode, Ilka & Andreas Ruby, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, Werner Sobek, Rolf Soiron, Something Fantastic, Michael Sorkin, Rahul Srivastava, Vishnu Swaminathan, Jean-Philippe Vassal, Holger Wallbaum, Martina Wengle, Zhang Yue.