For years, I’ve walked into buildings with an open eye towards architectural features – whether it be overall design, finishes, products, lighting or some other observation. It’s amazing how working in the architectural, engineering, or construction industry will forever change the way you look at buildings. There should be special drivers licenses for those of us in this industry – how many car accidents have we collectively almost caused hitting the brakes on a busy street to catch a glimpse of a beautiful building?

And while large scale initiatives have driven the green building movement here in North America and abroad, some issues have an easier time emerging as hot topics than others (think renewables). There’s no doubt that advances in those areas will, in fact, have positive impacts on the built environment, but there is an emerging group of products, technologies, materials, and design principles that seems to be taking shape in a growing number of buildings scattered across the globe.

For more than 80 years, plastics have been improving the performance and durability of nearly everything we buy, and build, with their remarkable properties. Take, for example, this video we dug up on YouTube. Disney’s “Monsanto House of the Future” featuring “plastics used boldly, creatively as building materials.”