The part of the environmental movement that draws my firm's attention is the design of cities, buildings and products. When we designedAmerica's first so-called "green" office building in New York two decades __（1）__, we felt that we were alone. But today, thousands of people come to green building conferences, and the _  (1)  _that buildings can be good for people and the environment will be increasingly influential in years to _  (2)  _ .

Back in 1984, we discovered that most products for decoration weren’t designed for   (3)  _use. The “energy-efficient” commercial buildings constructed after the 1970s _  (4)  _crisis revealed indoor air quality problems caused by materials such as paint, wall covering and carpet. So far 20 years, we’ve been   (5)  _ on these materials down to the molecules(分子), looking for ways to make them __  (6)  _ for people and the planet.

Home builders can now use materials—such as paints that release significantly   (7)  _ amounts of organic compounds(有机化合物) —that don’t   (8)  _ the quality of the air, water, or soil. Eventually, _  (9)  _, our basic design strategy is focused not simply on being “less bad” but on creating   (10)  _ healthful materials that can be either safely returned to the soil _  (11)   reused by industry again and again. As a matter of   (12)  _, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer has already _  (13)   a carpet that is fully and safely recyclable.

Look at it this way: No one   (14)   out to create a building that destroys the planet. But our _  (15)  _ industrial systems are inevitably(不可避免地) causing these conditions, whether we like it or not. So _  (16)   of simply trying to reduce the damage, we are _  (17)  _ a positive approach. We’re giving people high-quality, healthful products and an opportunity to make choices that have a _  (18)   effect on the world. It’s not just the building industry, either. Entire cities are taking these _  (19)  _ positive approaches to design, planning and building.Portland,Seattleand Boston have said they want to be green cities. Chicago wants to be the greenest city in the world.