By:Kristina
Shrestha Hada
According to Wikipedia [1], sustainable
architecture refers to architecture which is based on minimizing negative
impact of buildings on environment through control and efficiency in the use of
resources, energy, and space.
The environment movement started
from United States in 1960s. This movement was a foundation of the sustainable
development. “For many people, the sustainable design movement started sometime
in the early seventies as a response to the oil crisis. For others, it was a
decade earlier, coinciding with the publishing of Rachael Carson’s landmark
book, Silent Spring, believed by many to be the catalyst which launched the
wider environment movement” [2]. It was the first movement toward conserving
the environment. This led to another new movement known as Sustainable Design
or Sustainable Architecture or Green Architecture. So, now the question is: can
the problem of environmental crisis be solved by making sustainable buildings?
After all human beings are responsible for the environmental crisis.
“In many ways, the environment crisis, it is a
consequence of how things are made, buildings are constructed, and landscapes
are used. Design manifests culture, and culture rests firmly on the foundation
of what we believe to be true about the world” – SIm Van Der Ryn.
How can constructing more buildings
solve the environment crisis? Well, the human population is growing rapidly. With
growing human population, demand of housing is also increasing rampantly. This ultimately
leads to construction of new buildings.
But, if these new buildings could be constructed with the help of
sustainable building techniques, it would have less impact to the environment.
Can we stop building construction for the environment? I don’t think the
building of new construction is stopping in near future. Although we cannot
stop new constructions, we can reduce the impact on environment by introducing sustainable
design techniques. Designing sustainable building is not a requirement but it
is an option. The advancement in the technology has enabled architects with the
choice of designing a building which has less impact to the environment. So, if
one is given a chance to choose to design a building which can have lesser
impact on the environment then what should that person do? For instance, people
has been using tungsten bulbs from centuries. It was an amazing invention in
the history of mankind. It was a great leap for human to develop tungsten. Now,
there is a new light bulbs which are known as CFL (Compact Florescent Light) bulbs.
CFL has high efficiency in terms of luminosity and at the same time consumes
low electric power and releases low heat. In other words, the CFL bulbs delivers
same intensity of light as incandescing light bulbs with lower power
consumption. Similarly, the development of LED bulbs made it even more energy
efficient. Now, people have to replace their traditional bulb to CFL or LED
bulbs in order to save energy. In long term people can save money and reduce energy
consumption. As sustainable design is an option, this is also a similar case.
In this case, it is a choice of people either to stick on traditional light
bulbs or use an energy efficient light bulbs.
The concept of sustainability can be
broadly divided into many categories. According to the book “the Philosophy of
Sustainability: the Future of Architecture”, Sustainability can be sub
categorized into different headings. They are as follows:
•
Respect
for the Wisdom of Natural System i. e. Biomimicry Principle
•
Respect
for people i.e., The human vitality principle
•
Respect
for place i.e., The ecosystem/ bioregion principle
•
Respect
for the Circle of life i. e., The “Seven Generation” Principle
•
Respect
for Energy and Natural Resources i.e., The Conservation and Renewable Resources
Principle
•
Respect
for progress i.e., The Holistic Thinking Principle [6]
•
Respect
for the Wisdom of Natural System i. e., Biomimicry Principle
Nature has been a guide for human
beings and nature can inspire us to create balance. The biomimicry principle
deals with the making unique designs which are inspired from nature.
“Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to
human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies” [3].
•
Respect
for people i.e. The human vitality principle
The
main purpose of designing a building is to provide space for the people.
Therefore, sustainable architecture should respect the need of people and
design space accordingly [2].
•
Respect
for place i.e. The ecosystem/ bioregion principle
A
place not only defines the geographic area but also defines the culture,
history and the architecture of that place. People
from different cultures and geographic areas have their own
distinct architectural style. These buildings have a history and convey the story of that
place. These unique buildings were sustainable. They were able to serve people
of different generation. It is the people who wanted more comfort and started
the trend of HVAC system. The building before HVAC were sustainable. They were
guided by the climate of that place. The traditional house of India is far
different from that of the traditional house of Nepal.
•
Respect
for the Cycle of life i. e. The “Seven Generation” Principle
This
is one of the important principle of sustainability. Every living creature in
this earth are a part of one large cycle of life. It is very essential that
human beings understand this principle and respect it [2]. The plants
germinate, grows, bear fruits, produce seed and dies. When the plants dies the
soil gets nutrients which is used by new seeds. Similarly, water is evaporated
and clouds are formed and rain brings the water back to the earth. In nature,
nothing is a waste.
•
Respect
for Energy and Natural Resources i.e. The Conservation and Renewable Resources
Principle
Human
being should respect the energy and natural resources. The non- renewable energy
like coal, and crude oil should be conserved and renewable energy like water,
wind, and solar energy should be used for the production of energy [2].
•
Respect
for progress i.e. The Holistic Thinking Principle
This
principle encourages people to respect the process. The new invention takes
place with a series of processes [2].
“Four main climatic factors that need
interrelated and integrated treatments to attain comfort dealing with solar
radiation through appropriate orientation, building shape, shading of walls and
openings, roof treatments special kinds of glazing and using landscape for
evaporative cooling, the temperature can be treated for cooling or heating by
thermal mass, insulation, partial or total embedding of the building in earth
treatments of walls and shading. Ventilation can be attained through
enhancement of air movement and cross ventilation, wind catchers, courtyards
and daylighting can be abundant through proper positions and sizes of openings
and shading” [4].
In
conclusion, sustainable architecture has many broad scopes. The use of
traditional energy efficient techniques can be use along with high tech
sustainable solution to design sustainable buildings. Also, sustainable
buildings can help reduce the impact on the environment.
References
1. “Sustainable Architecture”,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_architecture, Accessed on October 26,
2015
2. McLennan, Jason F., “The philosophy
of Sustainability: The future of Architecture”, December, 2004.
3. “Biomimicry”, http://biomimicry.org/
what-is-biomimicry, Accessed on October 22, 2015.
4. “Climate responsive practices in
local architecture”, http://www.cpas-egypt.com, Accessed on Oct 25, 2015.
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