At the UIA/AIA World Congress of Architects in Chicago, 18 – 21 June 1993, the following document was adopted.
The declaration recognises that:
A sustainable society restores, preserves and enhances nature and culture for the benefit of all life present and future; a diverse and healthy environment is intrinsically valuable and essential to a healthy society; today’s society is seriously degrading the environment and is not sustainable.
We are ecologically interdependent with the whole natural environment; we are socially, culturally and economically interdependent with all of humanity; a sustainability, in the context of this interdependence, requires partnership, equity and balance among all parties.
Buildings and the built environment play a major role in the human impact on the natural environment and on the quality of life; a sustainable design integrates consideration of resource and energy efficiency, healthy buildings and materials, ecologically and socially sensitive land-use, and an aesthetic sensitivity that inspires, affirms and ennobles; a sustainable design can significantly reduce adverse human impacts on the natural environment while simultaneously improving quality of life and economic well being.
We commit ourselves, as members of the world’s architectural and building-design professions, individually and through our professional organisations, to:
Place environmental and social sustainability at the core of our practices and professional responsibilities;
Develop and continually improve practices, procedures, products, curricula, services and standards that will enable the implementation of sustainable design;
Educate out fellow professionals, the building industry, clients, students and the general public about the critical importance and substantial opportunities of sustainable design;
Establish policies, regulations and practices in government and business that ensure sustainable design becomes the normal practice; and
Bring all existing and future elements of the built environment – in their design, production, use and eventual reuse – up to sustainable design standards.
Olfemi Majekodunmi,
President
International Union of Architects
Susan A Maxman
President
American Institute of Architects
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