Is There Such a Thing As Sustainable Design

January 10, 2007 · Week 2 · Mary Henry SUSTAINABLE DESIGN (ARCH 515)

General discussion:

o Is there such a thing as sustainable design? Energy efficiency is often spoken of more frequently because it is easier to quantify. Is sustainable design more often discussed as an ideal?

o Can sustainable design make economic sense over time? How can we build so to achieve this? Should we redefine ‘economic success’? Do we look at short or long term benefits?

o High tech vs. Low tech solutions: traditional examples such as adobe brick vs. wind harvesting, is one more sustainable than the other?

o Loretta Bay is an eco-community, geared towards people with high incomes. Design processes change when you’re working with a wealthy developer rather than bureaucratic, governmental groups.

o Both the wealthy and poor have cultural baggage to deal with as clients. E.g. expectations to dry clothes in a dryer or the value put on decorations on houses as status symbols.

o How buildings can affect people. Natural light, can it make a person happier? Can it cure them from disease? A bike shelter in a building encourages people to bike to work, affecting their health. Is a design that is detrimental to ones health easier to talk about than one that improves it?

Word-meaning activity: one student took a word and would describe it from their personal perspective and then others would give their point of view. Different views of the same word were discussed, often differing according to a student’s field of study.

o Program i. First guess: predefined instructions for a task, how to execute it ii. Other suggestions: List of needs given by a client, able to evolve as a project goes on, professionals can influence the program o Carrying capacity i. First guess: what a building can provide structurally ii. Other suggestions: the ability for an environment to support a population; an elevators carrying load o Stack effect i. First guess: an effect used to control pollution ii. Other suggestions: an architectural term and a method of ventilating building interiors by taking advantage of heat rising and vertical temperature gradients. o Gender neutral i. First guess: applicable to both genders, unisex (e.g. clothing, haircuts) ii. Other suggestions: public spaces, bathrooms that serve men and women (do they serve transsexuals?) o Circulation i. First guess: a term to describe air, ventilation, fluids, pedestrian and traffic circulation ii. Other suggestions: an architectural term for spaces for human circulation in buildings

Comments, reactions and questions about the film “ The Next Industrial Revolution”, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart :

o A good message o Good examples o Didn’t discuss major obstacles o Talks about the problem as “it” rather than “us” o The intended audience: corporate America? o Dogmatic o The closed technical cycles: oversimplified? o Some featured corporations had motives driven by profit and environmental benefit / moral incentives seemed secondary o Multiple benefits (profit and being sustainable) are important in design o Economic benefits considered a lot, perhaps because they are easily quantifiable o How do we quantify environmental/social benefits? o How much control does the government have with regards to the ‘next industrial revolution’?