Sustainability involves a broad range of environmentally and socially conscious ways of life. For the purposes of this project, sustainable building strategies relative to the humid tropical location will play a major role in the design process.

Panama's climate can be classified into two distinct seasons: rainy and dry. The extreme solar exposure and heavy rainfall present interesting design challenges.

The use of renewable local materials in a manner appropriate to the site conditions is essential to reviving regional awareness.

Reinforced concrete, synthesized steel, and corrugated metals are considered the building methods of the western world and are therefore assumed to exemplify cutting edge construction methods.

However, while concrete and steel have their benefits, the use of renewable regional materials is often more environmentally friendly, cost effective, aesthetically pleasing, and longer lasting.

The abundance of bamboo and clay in the local soil provide sensible and sustainable construction alternatives when applied in a unified structural system.

Proper design and craftsmanship can invigorate and dignify even the simplest regional building materials and methods.

The work of Sergio Palleroni and the BaSiC Initiative is well know for its sustainable. "green for all" ideal.

The use of local clay brick is used in the designs of local architecture firms (Arosemena y Soundy Arquitectos).

A resurgence in bamboo construction is prominent in the neighboring countries of Colombia (Simon Velez) and Costa Rica (Bamboo Housing National Project).

The Barefoot Architect; Johan van Lengen, Shelter Publications, 2007

Design Like You Give A Damn; Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair, Metropolis Books, 2006

Grow Your Own House; Simon Velez, Vitra Design Museum, 2000

Studio at Large; Sergio Palleroni, University of Washington Press, 2004

Bamboo Building and Culture; Darrel DeBoer and Karl Bareis, 2000