#self-directing

Environmental design integrates the fields of architecture, urban planning and sustainability to create a discipline that is focused on the creation of healthy environments for humans that are functional without causing undue damage to the natural environment. Concerns about everything from "toxic buildings" to climate change are leading to an increase in public interest in this field.

Green Building

Increasing public concern about the health of contemporary architecture is fueling many job opportunities for people with training in the field of environmental design. As architects, engineers and researchers discover new and healthier alternatives to toxic building materials and inefficient design, trained environmental designers are being sought to integrate these features into a rejuvenated and healthier cityscape. Green buildings integrate features such as passive solar heating, nontoxic interior finish materials and super-efficient appliances. Environmental designers, with field-specific training in methods of maximizing all of these features, help to create buildings that are beautiful and functional and pose no threat to the health of their residents.

Public Health

Preventive medicine, rather than focusing on disease, looks at ways of maintaining health in a proactive manner. Given the amount of time that most people spend indoors and in cities, the health of buildings and urban environments is a critical factor in public health. People who have training in environmental design can make a substantial contribution to the advancement of public health by consulting on the creation of nontoxic and nurturing built environments. Healthy living and working environments contribute to the physical and mental health of individuals and decrease the burden on public health systems.

Urban Planning

The discipline of urban planning encompasses architecture and sociology in an attempt to create cities that are workable and healthy. Urban planners who are interested in green alternatives focus on issues such as traffic flow, low-impact alternatives to private car use, green space, low-income housing and sustainable business districts. Environmental design in its pure form can be seen as a type of urban planning in that it attempts to address human needs through the modification and improvement of cities.

Alternative Energy

With questions growing about the long-term viability and reliability of fossil fuels, alternative energy is a growth industry that is gaining ever more public attention. Environmental designers can play central roles in the productive application of alternative energy systems to existing urban environments. Small-scale wind and solar energy can be used on rooftops nearly anywhere, while larger installations can be used for grid-integrated power augmentation. These technologies help to reduce the burden that cities impose on the natural world. Environmental designers can help to integrate them appropriately so that they remain part of the solution and don't become part of the problem.