Frank Gehry knows more about green building than he let on

Frank Gehry's Novartis building in Switzerland (at centre). Photo by Brad P .

Renowned architect Frank Gehry appears to know more about green building and architecture than he originally let on. Back in May, Gehry criticised the cost of green building as well as Leed, the US's environmental rating system for buildings. I covered his comments at the time and was quite critical writing: "Gehry has designed some of the most iconic buildings of our times, but I think his comments are reflective of a wider lack of understating among many architects when it comes to green building and architecture."

Thankfully, Gehry has now given an interview with US broadcaster PBS in which it becomes quite clear that he knows a lot more than his initial comments let on. He's actually quite insightful. Some highlights are below, but I'd highly recommend reading the full interview - Gehry goes on to speak about green materials, minimising construction waste and using stationary bicycles to provide energy in one of his projects, among various other topics.

Some choice quotes from Gehry: 

A lot of our clients don’t apply for the LEED certification because it’s complicated and in their view, they simply don’t need it.

There are other ways to encourage green building. For example, we did the Novartis building in Switzerland.

They don’t use the LEED program over there, the government just says this is what you can and can’t do, and things have to be built in a sustainable way. So really it’s a political thing: People taking responsibility on an individual level combined with government programs that give mandates that say “this is how we’re going to require people to build.” Our federal government is trying to take steps in that direction. I just met with someone from the Obama administration, they are trying to enact tougher standards, but they’re having some trouble.

...The Swiss government said the Novartis building couldn’t be air-conditioned. So we had to come up with another way to regulate the temperature. We built it entirely out of glass and cooled it with a geothermal system. The roof panels were made with photovoltaic glass that generates energy. And there is an opening at the top that lets hot air out — like a teepee. In the end, there’s no one way to do it, you have to be creative.

...Maybe you need the point system to energize this type of building, but I’m not sure it’s necessary.  The best way would be a political initiative that requires people to address these issues in order to get a building permit. Then the government can incentivize sustainable building through subsidies and various other things. But this is a global issue, so you need programs that not only we agree on but also that the Russians and the Chinese agree on.

...On certain projects, on big public projects, people definitely are interested in making them greener, but on smaller projects with tight budgets it can be harder. People don’t feel like they’re making enough of a dent for it to be worth it.