As the nation faces rising fuel prices, a struggling economy, a slumping construction market and increasing concern about climate change, an architect Tuesday told an audience in West Valley that solutions are available.

Speaking to an audience of about 400 people at the Salt Lake Sustainable Building Conference at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Edward Mazria, founder and executive director of Architecture 2030, said constructing buildings that would result in 50 percent less emission of carbon gases would help move the economy forward and mitigate climate change.

"The federal government has to require that all developments using a dollar of federal funds meet that standard," he said.

Architecture 2030 is an independent, nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving a dramatic reduction in greenhouses gases that contribute to global warming by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed and constructed.