Mutualistic relationships versus hyper-efficiencies in the sustainable building and city

The quest for sustainability in the design and development of buildings and cities has expressed itself predominantly as a pursuit of ever-greater efficiency. Urban systems have been developed to achieve energy and resource savings in an attempt to eliminate their environmentally negative impacts. The end goal would seem to be to make buildings and cities virtually invisible within the context of the natural environment and to extract humanity from that which is natural. This approach could be termed as a hyper-efficiency sustainability model. In this approach, the impacts of human beings and their functional systems are seen as contaminants that need reduction or removal. Although driven by a desire to preserve the Earth’s natural systems, such an approach ultimately creates greater division between humanity and nature and may not bring sustainability. As an alternative to a hyper-efficiency model of sustainability, a model should be pursued that focuses more on developing an integrative relationship between civilization and environment akin to mutualism in biology. Such an approach, which could be termed as a mutualistic sustainability model, incorporates natural systems and elements into the structures and functions of buildings and cities, with the goal of achieving cooperative and positive interaction between humanity and nature. Such integration can create opportunities to support living organisms and biological systems in an ecologically contributive manner, while fulfilling human infrastructural needs. It offers a more positive alternative to efficiency based strategies and has the potential to establish a healthier and more productive relationship between humanity and the Earth’s natural systems. This paper elaborates on these two distinct approaches to sustainability and presents an examination of recent green building projects and green infrastructure projects. It analyses specific strategies and methods to contrast and compare manifestations of both approaches, providing valuable lessons and insights for designing sustainable buildings and cities.