How does a flower inspire performance? It’s nature’s perfect expression of holistic design, says Bob Berkebile, a softspoken architect from Kansas City who punctuates all of his speeches, writings, and interviews about living buildings with his “principles of the flower.”

by Pamela Scott Crace

Berkebile was in Fredericton recently to inspire attendees of a national Festival of Architecture with his philosophy of restorative design. He is one of the fathers of sustainability, and an original author of the LEED standard for green buildings. His credentials include a manifesto for redeveloping New Orleans, plans for Greensburg, Kan., the first community in the U.S. to make LEED its basic building code, and designs for “greening” the White House. He has worked in Antarctica too, and has seen climate change up close.In the cool sanctuary of Christ Church Cathedral I sat transfixed by Bob’s accounting of the dire march of progress, and was heartened by his optimism for the future.

His profession has a leadership role to play, as it adopts new principles for the design of buildings in which we live, work, and meet. We citizens are not demanding enough about changing the status quo. We should be. The built environment we take for granted is not sustainable. In the U.S., for example, it consumes a third of the nation’s energy, more than half of all electricity, and produces a staggering amount of waste.

Can a building or a city produce more than it consumes? Bob Berkebile thinks so, if they are designed to be “responsive, self-regulating, and full of spirit.” Only our culture of creativity needs a reboot, he says, to reclaim the genius we left behind in grade school.

Can companies be designed this way? I think so. An enterprise, after all, is an ecosystem.

As entrepreneurs, you might be interested in Berkebile’s six simple truths about flowers, and how they can apply to your ventures.

Consider this: A flower uses only what it needs. It adapts to its native environment. It operates pollution free. It promotes health and well-being. Its systems are integrated and balanced. And it is beautiful.

A great organization is a wonder to behold. Take Jacques Whitford, the most balanced company among the TOP 101 this year. An international consulting firm, it hires the best people it can get its hands on. What do they want? To work for a company that sees going carbon neutral as the right way to do business.

What’s your flower power?