Sunday, November 20, 2016

Reviewed readers response on The Detroit House

In the article "This Detroit house is being turned into a living model of cost-saving sustainable design", Peters (2016) introduced ''Motown Movement'' as an initiative undertaken by three architecture students to design a sustainable living environment through affordable means. She then shared that the students were inspired to increase public awareness of sustainable and cost-effective ways to reconstruct houses, through workshops conducted in the revamped Detroit house - a living exhibition filled with green ideas. The people in Detroit would be imparted with knowledge of green sustainability tricks which they could easily replicate in their houses through the planned workshops aimed at addressing sustainability and cost effectiveness. Peters summed up on how the students collaborated with local organizations and their university to create projects flexible enough to accommodate varying conditions and spread the idea of Motown Movement to a worldwide level. While "Motown Movement" was a successful case on how sustainability can be implemented, figuring out on how to get the different involved parties to come together for this cause will be a challenge.

In order for sustainability to flourish, fostering cooperation between the different involved parties by coming up with sound policies which benefit all parties will affect the success rate of the plan. According to the students, the people in Detroit ''were much more positive'' than expected despite the bad living conditions in Detroit. Due to their positive mindset, they were more open to new ideas introduced to them which made it easier to work with them in executing the plan. According to Vinh (2013), one of the challenges faced by the Vietnamese government in promoting sustainability is influencing organizations and the general public in utilizing eco-friendly products and implementing green measures to save energy. In Vietnam's case, organizations were not keen in implementing eco-friendly measures as resources had to be spent unnecessarily while the local people are more focused on preserving the natural state of the land and are not open to change as compared to the people in Detroit. However, by involving the local people in the preservation process and convincing business that by using eco-friendly equipment they will save energy and money, Vietnam was able to progress in terms of sustainability.

Even for developed countries, fostering cooperation to implement sustainability can be a challenge due to the mindset of the people in those countries. According to Puritt (2012), in the United States, negative perceptions on the greenness of a green product was one of the factors hindering the growth of sustainability in the country. Puritt also stated that while consumers believe the words of environmental experts and scientist, they do not believe the claims of officials such as the government or businesses. According to a study by TerraChoice, an environmental marketing company, out of 1753 green products tested, all but one were misleading and are just false claims. This study alone will be enough to break any trust consumers have on green products available.

In conclusion, while meeting the involved parties needs to foster cooperation is important, promoting trust between the parties will just be as important in affecting the success rate of the plan. While efforts are being put in in creating these sustainability plans, more efforts will have to be directed in influencing the mindset of the people worldwide to be open to new ideas and also to make everyone have a common goal in mind. Hence, the success of the plan will be highly dependent on the trust and cooperation that each involved party have with one another.






References
Bonini, S., & Oppenheim, J. (2008). Cultivating the green consumer. Retrieved on 24 September 2016 http://ssir.org/articles/entry/cultivating_the_green_consumer


Peters, A. (2016). This Detroit house is being turned into a living model of cost-saving sustainable design. Retrieved on 19 September 2016 from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3061563/world-changing-ideas/this-detroit-house-is-being-turned-into-a-living-model-of-cost-saving-s


Puritt, J. (2012). Challenges to being sustainable, and how to overcome them. Retrieved on 24 September 2016 from http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/08/14/challenges-to-being-sustainable-and-how-to-overcome-them/http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/08/14/challenges-to-being-sustainable-and-how-to-overcome-them/


Vinh, L.D. (2013). Urban blueprints: Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. Retrieved on 24 September 2016 from http://www.worldcitiessummit.com.sg/urban-blueprints-khanh-hoa-province-vietnam


No comments:

Post a Comment