For example is choosing timber:

What timber species? For what purpose? Are its qualities the most suitable given all the parametres? From where has it been sourced? Is the forest a potentially important sink/habitat? How is the forest managed? What are the labour and trade practices involved? How has the timber been harvested, handled and transported? What other alternatives were available? etc.

I don’t think the difference between the efficient use of resources and the use of renewable and recyclable resources has been made strongly enough.

Nor has the full resouce profile necessarily been considered within a cost/benefit analysis.

With coastal erosion and rising sea levels becoming more frequent sustainability problems, designing for a retreating shorelines and submergable structures might become increasingly viable.

It is also interesting to consider how the ancient Egyptians structured their working programme
(pyramid building/agriculture) around the cyclical flooding of the Nile.

Perhaps we could pay greater attention to the cycles of nature again within our designs rather than trying to smooth out environmental differences?