Green architecture often emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources using sunlight through passive solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniques and using plants and trees through green roofs and rain gardens.

Soul Ecology supports the following Green Architecture techniques: Trombe Walls, Solar Chimneys and Green Roofs. We have highlighted the accomplishments of architect Paolo Soleri and Thomas Mayne for their green architecture efforts.

Paolo Soleri

Architect and urban planner Paolo Soleri first broke ground on the new desert town of Arcosanti in 1970, with the idea of building a sustainable community for 5,000 people. His theory of Archology (Architecture - Ecology) was not readily accepted by the general population. Buildings oriented to the sun for heating, cooling and lighting was rare at that time, but now it is at the heart of the Green Architecture movement today.

Arcosanti. 1978. Photo: Iolanda Lima

Thomas Mayne

Principal Architect Thomas Mayne's innovative architecture firm, Morphosis is a leader in the green architecture design movement. In 2004,. California Transit Headquarter Building 7 opened to rave reviews for unique architecture design. The energy performance elements and the environmentally conscious design were recognized throughout the world of architecture.

Environmental Design: The facade (metal scrim) along Main Street features an innovative double skin of glass behind perforated aluminum panels. The panels open and close mechanically timed with the movement of the sun and weather conditions, providing surface variety on the facade, shielding the interior from the sun, and giving office workers changing views to the outside. On exceptionally windy days, the perforated panels actually hum.

Energy Performance: The building's south facade is entirely surfaced with photovoltaic cells, mounted with a new system designed by Morphosis, its project collaborators and a team of special consultants. The cells, which extend from the fourth to the thirteenth floors, generate approximately 5% of the building's energy while shielding the facade from direct sunlight during peak summer hours. This and other energy savings features have led to an energy Silver Rating.