Environmental principles in architecture have drawn increasing awareness internationally. Conventional decision approaches such as those defined and analyzed by Olgyay, McHarg, and other researchers, emphasize western principles for basic aspects of the natural environment, including climate, physiography, hydrology, vegetation, and the life of the inhabitants. As both an alternative and complement to contemporary environmental design, feng shui is an ancient wisdom that examined the sites of cities and determines the desirable layouts of buildings. However, less focus is on the comparison of contemporary and traditional environmental principles and the possible incorporation of the two. In this paper, we will compare contemporary environmental principles and feng shui, and emphasize the integration of environmental issues into architectural design. Our comparison will focus on several aspects, including philosophical background, analysis methods, and application fields. Traditionally, the Western view is based on the philosophical, religious, and cultural belief that man is the center of the universe. The environmental study is to seek the harmony of the human and nature by analyzing the climatic influences on human activities. However, in the view of feng-shui, human is part of the nature. It is argued that design with feng shui principles can follow the natural law and can help to accumulate a good energy field, and eventually improve the life cycle of nature. In addition, contemporary environmental principles are more practical with quantifiable figures and numbers. While feng shui methods focus on the observation and calculation of the primordial causes, including the movements of planets and stars, and the balance of subtle energy changes. However, considering the design process as a whole, two approaches have similar systematic thinkings. In bio-climatic design, four major elements (temperature, radiation, air movement, and humidity) are “assembled” together after the studies have been done separately. In eastern culture everything in the universe is related. The climatic factors cannot be separated from the topology, vegetation, and psychology. When further applying rules in design, similarities can also be seen in several fields: certain restrictions in topographical study, emphasizing geological and hydrological factors, and analyzing the vegetation. Comparisons of other rules show some factors are emphasized in feng-shui, but might not be the major factors for the western rules; or vise versa. Although feng shui can be used in buildings and human settlements, in this research, we only compare the principles more applicable to building designs, and intend to connect the "art" and the "science" with the focal point of environmental issues. Therefore, this research seeks to establish a combined analysis approach based on the comparison of contemporary environmental principles and feng shui. Case studies will also be conducted based on both theories. The combination of two sets of principles will be helpful to enable students and professionals to learn and apply the knowledge in the design process.