In full bloom at the National Building Museum this year, is a Green Community exhibition. The interactive show shares detailed information on how the “health of our communities, our planet, and ourselves depend on how we plan, design, and construct the world between our buildings. Green Community explores the origins of our precarious ecological situation and introduces communities large and small where citizens, political leaders, planning and design professionals, developers, and government agencies are working together for a more sustainable future.”
The exhibit poses the question “What makes a community green?” and answers by stating “A green community conserves its land, offers multiple options for transportation, provides open space for recreation and cultivation, and uses its natural and cultural resources wisely.“
They’ve included a video overview on their site of the exhibition highlights.
The NBM points out that green communities are not a brand new idea, since for much of human history, “green” wasn’t something unique and new because it was simply how people lived.
“We arranged our days around the rising and setting of the sun and our years around the seasons. Healthy land resulted in healthy crops, which resulted in healthy people. Living in cooperation with nature wasn’t a matter of choice; it was a matter of survival.
Previous generations may not have used terms like “sustainable development” or “smart growth” but they knew that healthy places had clean air, fresh water, fertile soil, and viable ways to move goods and people around.
As people invented new technologies, we changed how we live. Without the old constraints of nature, we can travel the world easily, use electricity to light up our nights and extend our days, and keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer. These conveniences, however, have had consequences for our personal health–and for the health of our civic spaces and our planet. It turns out that living in cooperation with nature is still a matter of survival. Humans, however, are still inventive and many communities are now investing in new technologies–as well as relooking at some old ideas–to create greener approaches to modern life.”
While you are exploring this site also keep an eye out for the Sustainable Community Lecture Series, for the Greener Good, and the traveling exhibit “The Green House” which will include:
- Contemporary Green Houses
- The Five Principles of Sustainability
- Resources and Summations
- A Materials Room
Image of the National Building Museum Atrium is in the public domain.
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