'Sustainability' – a word that’s often lightheartedly thrown around the industry, however, the term isn’t to be taken lightly. The importance of producing sustainable buildings in today’s society is of utmost importance both for us and the future generations to walk the planet. But what is sustainability? Well, as the Oxford Dictionary quotes, sustainability is the “avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”. So, how are designers implementing this within their designs?

An outstanding example of this is Santiago Calatrava’s Museum of Tomorrow. With sustainability values at its core, water conservation was a crucial component for the museum’s design and, playing host to a plethora of locally and ethically-sourced building materials, the Museum of Tomorrow is the first museum in Brazil to achieve a LEED ‘Gold’ certification. To find out more about this architecturally-stunning, sustainable building, turn to page 30.

Moving onto page 18, we encounter our next sustainable project, Sheffield’s Little Kelham housing development. Far from your run-of-the-mill housing development, the low-carbon scheme has made way for 153 energy-efficient homes as well as community spaces, shops and even a bakery; all designed to offer residents an inspiring place to live.

Elsewhere is this issue, we profile Istanbul’s latest addition to its Atasehir district, Darren Evans explains how BREEAM and WELL standards can ease the path to a sustainable future and International Timber discusses modified timber’s rise to success within the industry.

I hope you enjoy this edition. Don’t forget you can also access all of the magazine’s features, product news and supplier information at your fingertips via Future Constructor & Architect’s state-of-the-art app. To download your version free of charge, simply search ‘fc&a’ on Google play or the App store.