During the last few years, the fashion industry has struggled to maintain its reputation. Credible claims of sweat shops and the inherently high environmental cost of fast-fashion have left younger generations feeling disconnected and angry, and that leaves fashion companies in a quandary. How do you sell enough clothes to be a profitable business while maintaining environmentally conscious ethics? So far, the answer has been: “stop buying our clothes.”

The strategy may be working. By discouraging the purchase of new clothes, brands have created a high demand for used clothing, leading to the opening of designer used-clothing stores. Companies then get to sell their products multiples times while rebuilding their brand image as eco-conscious. Architects and building owners may want to take a page from the fashion industry, if we want stay viable and responsible.

Just like clothing, buildings have a high-environmental cost. In fact, commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of energy consumption, world-wide (fun fact: the US Energy Information Administration is about to release their new numbers for energy consumption in the US - get excited y’all). While there are many ways to reduce energy usage, one that is often overlooked by architects is to simply build less. What if we built 5% less square footage for every new building? What if remodels could maintain 50% of the existing interior, rather than complete demolish the space? This isn’t a poplar idea for architects. Our fees are often tied to construction cost, so building less means earning less. And if that isn’t an issue, then owners are not as inclined to pay an architect to design less building for the same price. Besides, what’s the harm of an extra 100 square feet?

There is a lot of intelligent data and research showing that a building with a smaller carbon footprint has less impact on the environment. The science is clear, so why do we still struggle to control excessive amounts of carbon emissions? Like a lot of issues, it’s a philosophy question, not a science question. Typical western philosophy values freedom and self-actualized destiny over community responsibility, therefore, people can do what they want so long as it makes them happy. Since changing a few hundred years of philosophical culture isn’t a very practical solution, how can we use this to bring about change?

Always a designer’s favorite, Sweden may have a solution: lagom. Like all of the best words, it escapes true definition, but is approximated as “the right amount is best.” Let’s build what we want, but not more than we need. Let’s express ourselves through our buildings, but efficiently. And, like the fashion industry creating demand and then supplying, logam creates demand for the skills of designers and architects. It allows owners the freedom to build a space that represents them and their business, giving them a unique branding that is clear and useful; but it demands the skills of designers to make it happen. Ultimately, it’s rescuing our planet so that future generations might have the same opportunity that our parents had. Let’s build less, so that we can build longer. Let’s take small steps to cultivate healthy building habits and, eventually, leave the planet better than we found it.