That Sustainability Thing: Learning from the past

For some, the sustainability movement is something relatively new. They associate it with clean technology, new solar panel technologies and modern wind farms. And, of course, the relatively new science of climate change and the green movement… For others, they recognize that ancient civilizations and cultures have long practiced sustainability and have a tradition of building low energy building that, for example, took advantage of prevailing winds to cool those buildings. In essence, these civilizations drew on the lessons of their past. This is a lesson we should heed. Our guest, Steve Burrows, is a world-acclaimed engineer who was Project Director on high profile projects including the Dubai Towers, the Beijing Olympic Stadium and Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Steve also created two television series that focus on how ancient civilizations build structures that stood the test of time. These series are “Engineering the Impossible” and “Time Scanners.”