What if it’s true that “We can not solve our problems using the same level of thinking that created them”? - Attributed to Albert Einstein

Could it be that our building science understanding is limited? Could it be that even the clarity of understanding we gain by viewing homes and buildings as a systems of systems, assemblies, materials and products interacting according to the laws of science and nature - is necessary but not sufficient to cause us to build that way? 

Building science is a necessary understanding but it is proving insufficient to cause the change we want at the pace we need. What do we need to add to the building-as-a-system perspective? What will it take to get past Knowing How to get us to Actually Doing what it takes to design and build for the outcomes we need? Using that concept as a lens, this episode seeks to expand the building-as-a-systems view into the society-as-a-system view in order to find ways to allow the power of building science to have proper impact in society.  Anyone working in the AEC knows that the barriers to change are solid and weighty. This is what motivates our search for Leverage. 

Leverage is a force multiplier. Leverage creates a large powerful force using a smaller force. We need leverage to multiply the force we can exert to cause change to happen in the AEC. Following the insights from Donella Meadows(2), we focus on the concept of Leverage Points - those “places within a complex system where a small change in one area can have pervasive positive impacts”. What we will discover is that according to Donella our mental models of the world, our industry, and our role in it - our deeply held, often unexamined, paradigms, are points of power that bring leverage. 

Please join us for this rich and thoughtful exploration to find sufficiency. What will it actually take to bring the future we want into the present we have. Bring your caring hearts and curious minds and let’s have some fun!

Reference: Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer

BSPS, SIGN UP PAGE TO GET ON OUR MAILING LIST, WE NEVER SHARE IT. 
https://positiveenergy.pro/the-building-science-philosophical-society

DONELLA MEADOWS BOOK
CHAPTER 6 
https://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdf

Wiki on Donella Meadows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donella_Meadows

Donella Meadows Project - Academy for Change
https://donellameadows.org/

Check out the Systems Thinking Resources page!
https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/

Book: Thinking in Systems
https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-book-sale/

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker