A Residential Architect Discusses Sustainability | Christine Medvedev | Ep. 2

When I invited Christine to have a conversation about sustainability, I thought the issue turned on climate change. I was wrong. It is about so much more than that.

Christine is a residential architect based in Shaker Heights, OH. Architecture has been her passion since she was 10 years old (no, that’s not a typo) and as she says in our discussion,

"Architecture is my profession, it’s my passion, it’s my entire career, it’s my first, middle, and last career. And sustainability is a huge part of that."

When I asked Christine to explain sustainability, specifically as it relates to architecture, she referenced a book she read early in her career, a book first published in 2010 titled, “The Story of Stuff.” As she explained in our discussion, “the [amount of] resources that we are using on planet earth are not what the planet is regenerating every year. The earth is producing X every year . . . and yet we as humans are consuming a multiple factor of this every year. That is not sustainable. We cannot continue to do this.”

So I asked her: how does this relate to residential architecture? Her response was both detailed and fascinating.

Sustainable Residential Architecture

Christine took me through the design, engineering, and construction process for a sustainable residence. She began with a discussion of site selection and then described those sustainable design distinctive you could see . . . materials, native plants, the positioning of the residence on the lot.

Then she moved to a discussion of how a residence should be heated and cooled. Have you heard of passive designs? I hadn’t. How about strictly controlling not just air flow through the home but air flow into the home? Or the choice of appliances: Christine explained the environmental benefit of using electric appliances as opposed to those that use natural gas.

Of course, at this point in the discussion, I thought, “Okay, she’s done. She’s explained the design, engineering, and construction process.” Again, I was mistaken.

Christine pointed out that following the discipline of sustainability doesn’t stop here; in the case of home remodeling, one has to think about this:

Can the appliances that we’re removing be repurposed and used by someone else? How do we keep these usable appliances from simply being thrown into a landfill?

As she stated several times throughout our conversation, “we are stewards of this earth. It’s the only place we can live. We need to take care of it.” Indeed.

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