The 2010 Imperative is an initiative issued by Architecture 2030 that requires ecological literacy, largely missing from the curriculum in the United States, to become a key element of design education by 2010, in order to combat global warming and world resource depletion.
The 2010 Imperative calls for the following:
"Solutions to design problems must engage the environment in a way that dramatically reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuel."
- Beginning in 2007, educators should add to all design studio problems the following requirement:
- By 2010, all academic design curricula shall achieve complete ecological literacy in design education, including the following areas of study:
design / studio
history / theory
materials / technology
structures / construction
professional practice / ethics
- By 2010, all design school campuses shall achieve a carbon-neutral footprint.
This may be accomplished by implementing innovative sustainable design strategies, generating on-site renewable power and/or purchasing a maximum of 20% renewable energy and/or certified renewable energy credits (REC's, Green tags).