Commonweal

Are the means we are talking about…

…green, eco-friendly? Absolutely essential but totally insufficient, especially if green building and ecological literacy ignores our common evolutionary and cultural heritage that points in the direction of increasing levels of psycho-socio-cultural maturity 

…sustainable, involving appropriate technology? Absolutely essential but totally insufficient, especially if sustainability excludes considerations of rehabilitation and appropriate is fallen from the sky and specifically for the poor…

…cost-effective or low-cost? Absolutely essential but totally insufficient, especially if the costs we are wont to include are but a tiny fraction of the costs to the larger whole…

…traditional, vernacular, vaastu-shaastra directed? Absolutely essential but totally insufficient, especially if the exercise intends to turn back the clock in parochial chauvinism or misreads the nature of the code…

Are the means ends in themselves?
Absolutely… relatively speaking, that is!