WASHINGTON, D.C.- The National Building Museum presents "Big and Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century," on view through June 22, 2003. Sustainable architecture is a potent, new movement, which combines an increasing respect for our environment with a continued demand for new construction to meet urban and regional growth. Recognizing that energy must be used wisely and conserved, followers emphasize the importance of creating healthful environments. Big and Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century promises to present a pioneering and definitive exploration of the transformative powers of sustainable architecture. An exciting investigation of the technologies in use and in development will highlight the most significant green projects worldwide and the firms and companies making these projects possible. A unique focus on big buildings, where the challenges as well as the potential benefits are the greatest, will show how the concept of sustainability has the potential to yield a more vibrant, exciting architecture for the future.

Big and Green will make the concept of sustainability accessible through a variety of illustrations and a multimedia glossary. Display elements will include photographs, drawings, models, structural mock-ups, and interactive electronic components. The exhibition itself will be conceived and installed with sustainable principles in mind. A definitive, 200-page catalog and a strong schedule of education and public programs will complement the exhibition.

Big & Green is made possible by PATRONS: Jeffrey and Rona Abramson and the Abramson Family Foundation; The Durst Organization; United States Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and U.S. General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Office of the Chief Architect; SUPPORTERS: Johnson Controls Foundation, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC, Miller & Long Co., Inc., and Turner Construction Company; CONTRIBUTORS: Boland Trane, Envision Design PLLC, Forest City Enterprises Charitable Foundation, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, and Perkins & Will; FRIENDS: ARUP, Boggs & Partners, EDAW, Inc., Fox & Fowle Architects, Gannett Co., Inc., Gensler Family Foundation, Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc., Herman Miller Inc., Montgomery Land Development, Inc., PEI COBB FREED & PARTNERS Architects LLP, Cesar Pelli & Associates, Moshe Safdie and Associates Inc., SIGAL Construction Corporation, SmithGroup, Inc., Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and Syska Hennessy Group; ASSOCIATES: CB Richard Ellis, Inc., The Clark Construction Group, Inc., Croxton Collaborative, Kishimoto.Gordon PC, and Utility Systems Construction & Engineering, LLC; DONORS: Carl M. Hensler Consulting Services Co., Kiss + Cathcart Architects, Lerch, Early, & Brewer, Chtd., Maryland Applicators, Inc., MCLA, Inc., Morphosis Architects, Smislova, Kehnemui & Associates, P.A., and TOLK, Inc.