Sustainable Design Basics E-Book

Sharon B. Jaffe

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 689

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

An accessible, climate-diverse guide that transforms readers from sustainable design novices to whole-solution problem solvers.

Sustainable Design Basics is a student-friendly introduction to a holistic and integral view of sustainable design. Comprehensive in scope, this textbook presents basic technical information, sustainability strategies, and a practical, step-by-step approach for sustainable building projects. Clear and relatable chapters illustrate how to identify the factors that reduce energy use, solve specific sustainable design problems, develop holistic design solutions, and address the social and cultural aspects of sustainable design. Requiring no prior knowledge of the subject, the text’s easy-to-follow methodology leads readers through the fundamental sustainable design principles for the built environment.

Sustainably-constructed and maintained buildings protect the health and improve the productivity of their occupants, as well as help to restore the global ecosystem. The authors, leading practitioners and educators in sustainable design, have created a resource that provides a solid introduction to broad level sustainability thinking that students can take forward into their professional practice. Topics include space planning for sustainable design, integrative and collaborative design, standards and rating systems, real-world strategies to conserve energy and resources through leveraging renewable natural resources and innovative construction techniques and their impact on our environment.

Usable and useful both in and beyond the classroom, this book:

• Covers building location strategies, building envelopes and structures, integration of passive and active systems, green materials, and project presentation
• Examines cultural factors, social equity, ecological systems, and aesthetics
• Provides diverse student exercises that vary by climate, geography, setting, perspective, and typology
• Features a companion website containing extensive instructor resources

Sustainable Design Basics is an important resource aimed at undergraduate architecture and interior design students, or first-year graduate students, as well as design professionals wishing to integrate sustainable design knowledge and techniques into their practice.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

About the Companion Website

1 Why, How, Who, and What

WHY USE THIS BOOK

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

WHO SHOULD USE THIS BOOK

WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS OF THIS BOOK

ORGANIZATION

EXERCISES

COMPANION WEBSITE

2 Mindset

THE HOLOCENE AND THE AGE OF AGRICULTURE

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTALISM AND THE AGE OF INFORMATION

REALIZATIONS OF THE HISTORIC SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS TIMELINE

THINKING AND SEEING FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

INTEGRAL SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

THE FOUR PERSPECTIVES OF INTEGRAL SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

LEARNING FROM THE PAST: GENERAL RULES

SPACE AND SCALE

THE INTEGRATIVE DESIGN PROCESS

NOTE

3 Step 1: Context

THE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN BASICS METHODOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW

STEP 1: CONTEXT

STEP 1A: PROJECT INFORMATION

STEP 1B: GUIDING PRINCIPLES

STEP 1C: MACRO CONTEXT AND MICRO CONTEXT

STEP 1D: SITE INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS

4 Step 2 Pre‐Planning

RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATION

STEP 2A: CASE STUDY

STEP 2B: PROJECT GOALS

STEP 2C: CRITERIA MATRIX

STEP 2D: RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAMS

FURTHER READING

5 Step 3: Design

WHOLE BUILDING THINKING, SYSTEMS THINKING

3A PRELIMINARY DESIGN

FURTHER READING

6 Step 3B: Passive Design

WHAT IS PASSIVE DESIGN?

KEY ELEMENTS OF PASSIVE DESIGN

PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES

PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING

PASSIVE COOLING AND NATURAL VENTILATION

WATER CONSERVATION AND RAINWATER HARVESTING

PASSIVE DESIGN VALIDATION

FURTHER READING

7 Step 3B: Passive Design, Daylighting

DAYLIGHTING

FURTHER READING

8 Step 3C: Building Envelope

WHAT IS THE BUILDING ENVELOPE?

FUNCTIONS

THE BUILDING ENVELOPE IN THE SDB METHODOLOGY

BUILDING ENVELOPE AND MACROCLIMATE

BUILDING STRUCTURE AND THE BUILDING ENVELOPE

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS

EXTERIOR WALL ASSEMBLY

WINDOWS

ROOF SYSTEMS

VALIDATION, SYNERGIES, AND SYNTHESIS OF DESIGN

FURTHER READING

9 Step 3D: Green Materials

BASICS

EVALUATION

OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES

MATERIAL AND PRODUCT RESOURCES

A WARNING ABOUT GREENWASHING

FURTHER READING

NOTES

10 Step 4: Design Resolution

STEP 4A: FINAL DESIGN SYNTHESIS

STEP 4B: FINAL DESIGN VALIDATION

STEP 4C: PRESENTING THE PROJECT

11 Demonstration Project

STEP 1: CONTEXT

STEP 2: PRE‐PLANNING

STEP 3: DESIGN

12 Beyond the Basics

ACTIVE SYSTEMS

PV ARRAY SIZING AND NET‐ZERO ENERGY

13 Design Resolution

FINAL DESIGN SYNTHESIS

FINAL VALIDATION

CONCLUSION

14 Demonstration Project: Final Presentation

STEP 1: PROJECT INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

STEP 2: PRE‐PLANNING

CONCLUSION

15 Exercises

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN EXERCISES

CHOICE 1: CLIENT DETAILS

CHOICE 2: SITE SELECTION AND MACRO CLIMATE

CHOICE 3: MACRO CONTEXT DETAILS

CHOICE 4: NEW BUILDING OR EXISTING BUILDING

EXERCISES

Appendix A: Demonstration Project Program, Climate, and Context Resources

STEP 1A: PROJECT INTRODUCTION

STEP 1C MACRO AND MICRO CONTEXT

STEP 1D SITE INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS

Appendix B: Forms and Matrices

Appendix C: Energy Modeling Software

NOTES ABOUT ENERGY AND DAYLIGHTING SIMULATION

SEFAIRA

RHINO ARCHITECTURAL SOFTWARE

OPEN STUDIO

IES (INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS)

EQUEST

REVIT GREEN BUILDING STUDIO BY AUTODESK

NOTE

Appendix D: Abbreviations and Acronyms

Appendix E: Green Building Standards, Codes and Rating Systems

THE ROLE OF CODES AND STANDARDS

THE ROLE OF RATING SYSTEMS

GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS, CODES AND RATING SYSTEMS

Bibliography

WEBSITES, CALCULATORS, AND ONLINE TOOLS

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 3

TABLE 3.1 GUIDING PRINCIPLES MATRIX/BLANK

TABLE 3.2 SETTLEMENT PATTERN CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPLICATIONS

TABLE 3.3 MACRO CLIMATE ZONES CATEGORIES, CHARACTERISTICS, AND IMPLICATIONS...

TABLE 3.4 MACROSCALE SITE CONSIDERATIONS

TABLE 3.5 MICROSCALE SITE CONSIDERATIONS

TABLE 3.6 SITE INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS MATRIX FORM

Chapter 4

TABLE 4.1 CASE STUDY MATRIX

TABLE 4.2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES MATRIX

TABLE 4.3 CRITERIA MATRIX INTERIORS FORM

TABLE 4.4 CRITERIA MATRIX BUILDING AND SITE FORM

Chapter 5

TABLE 5.1 BUILDING LOCATION: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS.

TABLE 5.2 BUILDING ORIENTATION: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 5.3 BLOCK PLAN: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 5.4 BUILDING SHAPE: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 5.5 BUILDING MASS: ASPECT RATIO, BUILDING SHAPE TO BUILDING AREA

TABLE 5.6 BUILDING MASS: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

Chapter 6

TABLE 6.1 PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING, DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 6.2 WINDOW SHADING STRATEGIES

TABLE 6.3 PASSIVE COOLING DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

Chapter 7

Table 7.1 DAYLIGHT: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

Chapter 8

TABLE 8.1 BUILDING ENVELOPE DESIGN STRATEGIES BY MACROCLIMATE

TABLE 8.2 COMPARATIVE BUILDING STRUCTURE SYSTEMS

TABLE 8.3 BUILDING STRUCTURE DESIGN OBJECTIVES/DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 8.4 EXTERIOR WALL ASSEMBLY: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 8.5 WINDOW DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

TABLE 8.6 SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES THAT AFFECT ROOF FORM

TABLE 8.7 ROOF FORM: DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN IDEAS

Chapter 9

TABLE 9.1 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A DESIGN OBJECTIVE (GOAL) AND THE DESIGN ID...

Chapter 10

TABLE 10.1 FINAL VALIDATION MATRIX: PROJECT GOALS

TABLE 10.2 FINAL VALIDATION MATRIX: GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Chapter 11

TABLE 11.1 GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

TABLE 11.2 MACROCLIMATE FOR THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

TABLE 11.3 URBAN CONTEXT FOR THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

TABLE 11.4 SITE INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS MATRIX

TABLE 11.5 CASE STUDY RESEARCH OUTLINE.

TABLE 11.6 CASE STUDY MATRIX EXAMPLE

TABLE 11.7 PROJECT GOALS MATRIX

TABLE 11.8 CRITERIA MATRIX, INTERIOR

Chapter 12

TABLE 12.1 BLANK PV ARRAY CALCULATOR

TABLE 12.2 SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY SIZING INFORMATION BASED ON EXAMINATION O...

TABLE 12.3 SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY SIZING INFORMATION FOR THE ADDITIONAL PV ...

TABLE 12.4 WATER BASELINE FOR THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

TABLE 12.5 WATER USE AFTER WATER‐EFFICIENT FIXTURES

TABLE 12.6 CISTERN SIZING CHART

TABLE 12.7 FINAL WATER SAVINGS

Chapter 13

TABLE 13.1 PROJECT GOALS MATRIX

TABLE 13.2 WATER SAVINGS VALIDATION

TABLE 13.3 FINAL VALIDATION MATRIX

TABLE 13.4 FINAL VALIDATION GUIDING PRINCIPLES MATRIX

Chapter 15

TABLE 15.1 BUILDING PROGRAM OPTIONS

TABLE 15.2 GENERIC CRITERIA MATRIX

TABLE 15.3 SPECIFIC SITES IN DIFFERENT CLIMATES.

Appendix B

TABLE B.1 PROJECT INFORMATION.

TABLE B.2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES MATRIX.

TABLE B.3 SITE INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS MATRIX.

TABLE B.4 CASE STUDY MATRIX.

TABLE B.5 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES MATRIX.

TABLE B.6 CRITERIA MATRIX: BUILDING INTERIOR.

TABLE B.7 CRITERIA MATRIX BUILDING AND SITE.

TABLE B.8 VALIDATION MATRIX: FINAL DESIGN, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.

TABLE B.9 VALIDATION MATRIX: FINAL DESIGN, GUIDING PRINCIPLES.

List of Illustrations

Chapter 2

Figure 2.0 John Elkington's triple bottom line framework

Figure 2.1 Nested triple bottom line diagram

Figure 2.2 A linear mindset

Figure 2.3 Cyclical, holistic mindset

Figure 2.4 Four perspectives: holistic design, looking outward, and looking in...

Figure 2.5 Thinking across time: past, present, and future

Figure 2.6 Think across scales

Figure 2.7 Integrated design team

Chapter 3

Figure 3.0

Sustainable Design Basics

, step 1

Figure 3.1 Sun position and path, altitude and azimuth

Figure 3.2 How to read a polar solar chart

Figure 3.3 How to calculate sun shadows

Figure 3.4 How to read a wind rose

Figure 3.5 How to calculate plumbing fixture water usage

Figure 3.6 How to calculate rainwater runoff

Chapter 4

Figure 4.0

Sustainable Design Basics

, step 2

Figure 4.1 Relationship diagram examples

Chapter 5

Figure 5.0

Sustainable Design Basics,

step 3

Figure 5.1 Preliminary design matrix

Figure 5.2 Validation matrix

Figure 5.3 Settlement patterns

Figure 5.4 Sun path

Figure 5.5 Building block plan example

Figure 5.6 Block plan: microclimate and context

Figure 5.7 Block plan: sun path and glare

Figure 5.8 Block plan: daylight zones

Figure 5.9 Building mass: increased floor‐to‐floor height

Figure 5.10 Building mass and site utilization

Figure 5.11 Building mass: (a) Single‐story setback; (b) Multistory setback...

Figure 5.12 Preliminary design validation matrix

Chapter 6

Figure 6.0 Sustainable Design Basics, step 3

Figure 6.1 Introduction to passive solar heating. Passive heating is a vehicle...

Figure 6.2 Direct solar heat gain

Figure 6.3 Sunspaces and solar heat gain

Figure 6.4 Thermal mass and solar heat gain

Figure 6.5 Buffer spaces and solar heat gain

Figure 6.6 Tombe wall and solar heat gain

Figure 6.7 Double skin facade and solar heat gain

Figure 6.8 Passive solar heating/microclimate

Figure 6.9 Passive cooling and natural ventilation

Figure 6.10 Passive cooling: windows

Figure 6.11 Passive cooling: building void

Figure 6.12 Passive cooling: cross ventilation

Figure 6.13 Passive cooling: stack effect

Figure 6.14 Passive cooling: double skin facade (DSF)

Figure 6.15 Passive cooling: roof venting

Figure 6.16 Passive cooling: cool roof

Figure 6.17 Passive cooling: vegetative roof

Figure 6.18 Passive cooling: earth tubes

Figure 6.19 Passive cooling: chilled beam

Figure 6.20 Passive cooling: evaporative cooling

Figure 6.21 Passive cooling: night purge

Figure 6.22 Passive cooling: window shade

Figure 6.23 Wind speed and topography

Figure 6.24 Natural ventilation through cross circulation

Figure 6.25 Rainwater, sloped roof

Figure 6.26 Rainwater, cistern

Chapter 7

Figure 7.0

Sustainable Design Basics

, step 3

Figure 7.1 Effective daylight zones in section

Figure 7.2 Effective daylight zone extents in plan

Figure 7.3 Daylight and building orientation

Figure 7.4 Daylight and building void

Figure 7.5 Daylight and high ceilings

Figure 7.6 Daylight and sloped ceilings

Figure 7.7 Daylight depth

Figure 7.8 Daylight and vision glazing

Figure 7.9 Daylight and horizontal shading

Figure 7.10 Daylight and vertical shading

Figure 7.11 Daylight and landscape shading

Figure 7.12 Daylight and light shelf

Figure 7.13 Daylight and clerestory

Figure 7.14 Daylight and sawtooth roof

Figure 7.15 Daylight and roof monitor

Figure 7.16 Daylight and skylight

Figure 7.17 Daylight and double facade

Figure 7.18 Daylight and integral shading

Figure 7.19 Daylight and interior scale

Chapter 8

Figure 8.0

Sustainable Design Basics

, step 3C

Figure 8.1 Introduction to the building envelope

Figure 8.2 Building foundation

Figure 8.3 Wall assembly composite R‐value

Figure 8.4 Window performance label

Figure 8.5 Windows: exterior shading

Chapter 9

Figure 9.0

Sustainable Design Basics,

step 3

Chapter 10

Figure 10.0

Sustainable Design Basics

, step 4

Figure 10.1 Passive Design Synthesis Matrix with completion instruction

Figure 10.2 Preliminary Design Validation Matrix with completion direction

Chapter 11

Figure 11.0 The four steps of

Sustainable Design Basics

Figure 11.1 Overview of the

Sustainable Design Basics

methodology

Figure 11.2 Demonstration project location map: global, urban, and district sc...

Figure 11.3 Project location within East Falls

Figure 11.4 Site inventory: performance perspective

Figure 11.5 Site inventory: systems perspective

Figure 11.6 Site inventory: cultures perspective

Figure 11.7 Site inventory: experience perspective

Figure 11.8 Site analysis

Figure 11.9 Case study thumbnails

Figure 11.10 Relationship diagrams

Figure 11.11 Design matrix: building location and site integration

Figure 11.12 Design matrix: building orientation

Figure 11.13 Design matrix: building block plan

Figure 11.14 Building shape and space plan matrix

Figure 11.15 Demonstration project preliminary design validation

Figure 11.16 Preliminary design synthesis

Figure 11.17 Passive heating design matrix

Figure 11.18 Passive cooling and natural ventilation design matrix

Figure 11.19 Passive design: daylighting design matrix

Figure 11.20 Passive design validation matrix

Figure 11.21 Passive design: design synthesis

Figure 11.22 Building envelope: building structure design matrix

Figure 11.23 Building envelope: walls design matrix

Figure 11.24 Building envelope: windows design matrix

Figure 11.25 Building envelope: roofs design matrix

Figure 11.26 Building Envelope: Validation Matrix

Figure 11.27 Building Envelope: Design Synthesis

Chapter 12

Figure 12.0 The four steps of

Sustainable Design Basics

Figure 12.1 EUI after lighting and equipment improvements

Figure 12.2 EUI after each step in the demonstration project

Figure 12.3 EUI before including the PV array

Figure 12.4 Roof plan with PV array area defined

Figure 12.5 EUI of the demonstration project after PV calculation

Figure 12.6 Roof plan with additional PV array area defined

Figure 12.7 EUI of demonstration project after the addition of a second PV arr...

Figure 12.8 Rainwater collection area

Chapter 13

Figure 13.0 The four steps of

Sustainable Design Basics

Figure 13.1 Sketch of the aerial view of the demonstration project

Figure 13.2 Final district plan

Figure 13.3 District scale site section

Figure 13.4 Final site plan

Figure 13.5 Final site section

Figure 13.6 Final space plan

Figure 13.7 Final building section

Figure 13.8 Energy modeling results before the addition of photovoltaics

Figure 13.9 Energy modeling results after the addition of photovoltaics

Figure 13.10 Daylight factor

Figure 13.11 Daylighting image from Sefaira, March 21, 3 p.m.

Figure 13.12 Ecological integration validation drawing

Chapter 14

Figure 14.0

Sustainable Design Basics, step 4

Figure 14.1 Guiding principles sample slide

Figure 14.2 Site inventory sample slide

Figure 14.3 Case study key takeaways sample slide

Figure 14.4 Design criteria key takeaways sample slide

Figure 14.5 Design synthesis sample slide

Figure 14.6 District plan sample slide

Figure 14.7 Site section sample slide

Figure 14.8 Floor plan sample slide

Figure 14.9 EUI countdown sample slide

Figure 14.10 Daylight validation sample slide

Figure 14.11 Ecological integration sample slide

Figure 14.12 Guiding principles validation sample slide

Chapter 15

Figure 15.0 The four steps of

Sustainable Design Basics

Figure 15.1 Generic site for exercises

Figure 15.2 Existing building drawings

Appendix A

Figure A.1 Solar Chart, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Figure A.2 Sun Chart of Philadelphia, Summer Solstice: June 21; highest sun an...

Figure A.3 Wind Rose, Philadelphia PA 19129. Summer wind direction: southwest;...

Appendix B

Figure B.1 Preliminary Design Matrix: Building Location

Figure B.2 Preliminary Design Matrix: Building Orientation

Figure B.3 Preliminary Design Matrix: Building Block Diagram

Figure B.4 Preliminary Design Matrix: Building Shape and Block Plan

Figure B.5 Validation Matrix: Step 3A Preliminary Design

Figure B.6 Design Synthesis: Step 3A Preliminary Design

Figure B.7 Passive Design Matrix: Heating

Figure B.8 Passive Design Matrix: Natural Cooling and Ventilation

Figure B.9 Passive Design Matrix: Daylighting

Figure B.10 Validation Matrix: Step 3B Passive Design

Figure B.11 Design Synthesis: Step 3B Passive Design

Figure B.12 Building Envelope Design Matrix: Structure

Figure B.13 Building Envelope Design Matrix: Walls

Figure B.14 Building Envelope Design Matrix: Windows

Figure B.15 Building Envelope Design Matrix: Roof

Figure B.16 Validation Matrix: Step 3C Building Envelope

Figure B.17 Design Synthesis: Step 3C Building Envelope

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

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Sustainable Design Basics

Sharon B. Jaffe

Rob Fleming

Mark Karlen

Saglinda H. Roberts

Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Cover design: WileyCover Illustrations: Sharon B. Jaffe

Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Karlen, Mark, author. | Jaffe, Sharon B., 1958‐ author. | Fleming, Rob (Robert Michael), author. | Roberts, Saglinda, author.

Title: Sustainable design basics / Mark Karlen, Ph.D., AIA, NCIDQ; Sharon B. Jaffe, LEED AP ID + C, IIDA, NCIDQ; Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP BD+C; Saglinda H. Roberts, ASID, CID, LEED Green Associate.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2020] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019027145 (print) | LCCN 2019027146 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119443735 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119443803 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119443841 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable design—Textbooks.

Classification: LCC NK1520 K37. 2020 (print) | LCC NK1520 (ebook) | DDC 745.4—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019027145

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019027146

Dedication

To my husband, my fellow adventurer, with whom I discovered everything is related to everything, and nature's delicate balance is both thrilling and vulnerable. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something; and I can make a start.

Sharon Jaffe

To my family, friends, and colleagues who endured a seemingly never‐ending period of intense distraction, and to my co‐writers, who endured my amazing ability to procrastinate. “Why do something today when it can be done next year”

Rob Fleming

To my wife for graciously accepting my too frequent distractions created by my writing tasks, and to my students and co‐authors who are always a source of inspiration.

Mark Karlen

To my family, friends and colleagues thank you for your wisdom inspiration and support, and never being tired of hearing “I'm sorry, I can't, I have to work.” The built environment can be a powerful force for restoration at every level and it is my hope that this book will take us one step closer.

Saglinda Roberts

Acknowledgments

Much like the sustainable design process, this textbook, Sustainable Design Basics, and the new methodology it presents is the result of collaborative efforts. We are grateful for the knowledge, insight, talent, and time of all of those who contributed to this process. Special thanks and acknowledgment are due to the following:

Thomas Jefferson University. The methodology presented is in large part a response to, and developed for, the use in master's in sustainable design studio courses at the university.

Our students in the master's in sustainable design program at Thomas Jefferson University whose honest and detailed feedback on the SDB methodology, even when less than favorable, helped us evaluate, revise, and refine the methodology presented in this text. Particular thanks to Abhiri Khisty, Jaspreet (JP) Bullar, Surabhi Khanderia, Rupali Gadagkar, and Shane Clark for their consistent work and positive spirit, Arpita Ganti for her enthusiasm and early SketchUp work and Keaghan Caldwell for his amazing design, SketchUp and Sefaira work. An extra thank you to master's in sustainable design staff members Savannah Nierintz, and especially Laura Parisi, who was an absolute rock star during her time at the university and in her work to support this book!

Teaching colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University have provided insight and support.

Rebecca Parish, who produced SDB Revit and AutoCAD drawings.

Jeff Zarnoch, who has been consistently supportive.

James Query, who helped us with topography contours.

Frank Sherman, who, with his class, employed the SDB methodology and provided insightful feedback.

We have received great support from our professional colleagues including:

Lois Brink of The Big SandBox, who provided invaluable site design advice.

Re:Vision Architecture, who provided insightful examples of project guiding principles.

Alkesh Taylor and Stephen Miller from Kitchen Associates, who provided an understanding of the demonstration project building active HVAC requirements.

Early readers of this textbook deserve special thanks. Hannah Rose Mamary, Celia Mamary, Rita Jaffe, and Carolyn Card Sutton each waded through various versions of this textbook providing insightful observations, suggestions, and edits that improved the overall readability, continuity, and structure.

Kim Conway Wilson, whose clear‐eyed graphic appraisal and illustration skills helped focus and simplify the presentation of complex concepts and images.

The team at Wiley publishing saw the value in expanding the successful Basics franchise, from Space Planning Basics, and Lighting Design Basics, into the area of Sustainable Design. Amanda Shettleton, Margaret Cummins, Kalli Schultea, Amy Odum, and the vast support a project of this scale requires, we offer our gratitude and thanks for supporting us through the process.

Deficiencies, errors, or ambiguities found in this text, (as surely, we have missed one or two) are the responsibilities of the authors.

About the Authors

Sharon B Jaffe, LEED AP ID + C, IIDA, NCIDQ. Designer, educator, and sustainable re‐developer specializing in the collaborative development of environmentally sustainable environments. She currently teaches at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. Rob Fleming has been teaching, researching, advocating, and practicing sustainability for over 20 years in pursuit of a deeper and more meaningful understanding of sustainability. He is the founding director of and a professor in the master's in sustainable design program at Thomas Jefferson University.

Mark Karlen, Ph.D., AIA, NCIDQ Mark Karlen has been practicing, teaching, and writing about interior design and architecture for several decades. He has chaired interior architecture programs at the University of Cincinnati and Pratt Institute.

Saglinda H Roberts, IIDA, CID NJ, NCIDQ, LEED Green Associate. Saglinda Roberts is currently an Assistant Professor at Chatham University. She is the founder of a consulting firm which focuses on restorative and holistic sustainable design. She has over 30 years of extensive design experience and has won numerous local and AIA design awards. Passionate about architecture and its ability to transform lives, Saglinda has published several articles on the future of integral sustainable design and presented her research internationally.

About the Companion Website

Don't forget to visit the companion website for this book: www.wiley.com/go/jaffesustainable.

The companion website to this book has a variety of tools, matrices, templates, SketchUp and AutoCAD files not found in the printed text, as well as:

PowerPoint files with simple slides that review the materials addressed in the book.

Narrated videos that review and augment concepts presented in the text.

Simulation and validation assignments which require energy modeling software.

1Why, How, Who, and What

Sustainability does not fit nicely under a single heading; it does not belong to a specific academic discipline or school subject. Nor is it the domain of any one sector—environment, education, business, or government. The quest to increase global sustainability involves many aspects of culture and a variety of disciplines that affect the world's ecology, economics, ethics, and education. Sustainability is an issue beyond a given lifetime or location. It is everybody's business and involves all aspects of how one lives in the modern world.

WHY USE THIS BOOK

This text is a basic primer focused on the design process for the sustainable built environment.

Buildings that are sustainably constructed and maintained contribute to the repair of the global ecosystem throughout their entire life cycle, while protecting the health and increasing the productivity of building occupants. The design of sustainable buildings requires that the architectural design process evolve into a new framework that promotes a transformation of the built environment globally. This framework must address the local context and apply to the full life cycle of the building.

Sustainable buildings are resilient buildings, mitigating damage to the environment and capable of adaptation. They are designed for longevity with low embodied energy requirements. Resilience requires a holistic approach to sustainability that extends to both lifestyle and the community beyond the buildings themselves.

Sustainable Design Basics presents design strategies that leverage renewable natural resources and innovative construction techniques to incorporate systems that conserve energy and resources. However, this book is more than a collection of sustainable strategies. Sustainable Design Basics is a methodology.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This text is an instructional tool that presents both basic technical information and sustainability strategies required for sustainability, and a methodology to facilitate the collection, analysis, and evaluation required to approach a sustainable building project.

Sustainable design is inherently a complicated process. It requires an understanding of influencing factors far beyond client preferences, program requirements, and construction methods. For the architect or designer first approaching sustainable building design, it can be overwhelming.

For this reason, Sustainable Design Basics (SDB) has simplified the process to its most basic design steps. SDB introduces a step‐by‐step methodology with a series of matrices and worksheets as decision‐making tools, as well as a demonstration project that illustrates each step. The SDB methodology is a working tool intended for use in the design process, not merely a text to be read for information. While an individual learner may use the SDB methodology, it was conceived and is intended for use in a conventional studio classroom setting.

WHO SHOULD USE THIS BOOK

As a basics book, in the tradition of Space Planning Basics by Mark Karlen and Rob Fleming and Lighting Design Basics by Mark Karlen, Christina Spangler, and James R. Benya, Sustainable Design Basics is directed primarily to intermediate‐level (sophomore or junior levels in a baccalaureate or first professional degree program) interior architecture, interior design, and architecture students. These previous “Basics” books are the inspiration for a precise, easily accessible methodology to address sustainable design. However, this particular subject matter asks a lot of the reader. Sustainable design is a far‐reaching subject that touches every aspect of design and deals with a wide range of design variables. It is a challenging subject. In breaking down the topic to address basics, a few readers may find some topics too simple and other topics too complicated. Hopefully, the bulk of the text addresses the subject material with an easily accessible, informative, and applicable approach.

One of the critical aspects of sustainability is the interrelated nature of global society. That is true for the environment, marketplaces, and education. Readers may come to this text from all parts of the world. With that understanding, the language of this book is direct and straightforward. Complex matters are broken down to smaller basic concepts to avoid, where possible, multilayered, complex theory. The authors are based in the United States, yet the sustainable design principles and practices in this book have global application. Locations in the United States may dominate the examples and exercises, but the choice of specific site locations was a result of limited time to address an ambitious scope of challenging material and not an effort to exclude other people or countries.

WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS OF THIS BOOK

The primary focus of Sustainable Design Basics is design, not technology nor terminology. Specifically, the focus is limited to interior architecture, interior design, and architecture. The methodology described applies to both new construction and to renovation of existing buildings. For clarity, this text limits the number of variables with a focus on new construction variables, although renovation and building reuse are vital elements of a sustainable built environment. However, each existing building has unique characteristics of construction, materials, and existing systems, beyond what a basics text can competently address.

A site for a building is a complex and worthy topic for sustainable design exploration. Limited by time and textbook length, in‐depth exploration of the landscape and the complexities and challenges presented to sustainable designers are beyond the scope of this book.

ORGANIZATION

Sustainable Design Basics is a step by step, how‐to methodology. Sadly, books are by default linear. There is not a “spiraling” option for information in print. While the text flows in a direct linear sequence of information, understand that sustainable design is not a linear process. The sustainable design process is integrated and iterative, frequently looping back to revisit preceding design decisions.

EXERCISES

The concepts and strategies included in this text have direct application to interior design, interior architecture, and architecture. The exercises that accompany the text follow the step‐by‐step methodology allowing the reader to do work independently to develop sustainable design skills through project‐based learning. A set of undeveloped sites and building “shells” in a variety of geographic locations in the United States provided for exercise project locations each have different geological, climatic, and cultural contexts. Completing assignments on different sites allows the exploration of the sense of “place” as a fundamental design influence, inspiring different design ideas. A variety of clients, users, and contexts ranging from rural to urban are provided as exercise variables. The study of hundreds of projects is possible by mixing and matching exercise variables. Projects can be explored in the studio classroom setting or independently.

Users of this text are expected to possess basic knowledge of design, drafting, and planning skills. Many of the exercises require the ability to open and print AutoCAD files or to download and print PDF files. Some of the exercises in Chapter 15 require software. There are also exercises that can be completed, with some variation, without software. Additional software information is available in the appendix and the companion website.

COMPANION WEBSITE

A companion website to this book (www.wiley.com/go/jaffesustainable) has a variety of tools, matrices, templates, SketchUp, and AutoCAD files not found in the printed text, as well as:

PowerPoint files with simple slides that review the materials addressed in the book

Narrated videos that review and augment concepts presented in the text

Simulation and validation assignments which require energy modeling software

2Mindset

At the most basic level, designers of the built environment create the spaces and places that provide shelter from the elements, and thermal comfort while creating the surroundings of life. The quality of life is dependent upon the work designers, builders, engineers, and architects accomplish daily. It takes a lot of material and energy to construct and operate the buildings, interiors, and landscapes of the world. The use of these materials and energy sources affect the larger environment that humans rely on for fresh air, clean water, light, energy, and food. Such ecosystem services are fundamental to the continuance of civilization into the future. In other words, if society wastes energy and materials, if society carelessly releases pollution into the air and water, if humanity drives animals to extinction and forever alters the climate to produce uninhabitable conditions, humanity threatens its existence.

Put bluntly, the current pattern of life on earth is unsustainable.

The current distressed state of the planet is a direct result of how people think. Changing how individuals think can change the direction of society's thinking. With a mindset change, one can begin to imagine a sustainable future. This chapter deals directly with the “why” of sustainable design and the essential mindset for a capable, sustainable designer. Included in this chapter are significant historical events, prominent people, and notable frameworks that support an understanding of sustainability and sustainable design. The remainder of the book is the “what” and “how” of sustainable design, and the step‐by‐step methodology used to achieve a sustainable design project.

First, before delving into the methodology, a bit of historical context is appropriate, a brief journey through history that reveals our changing relationship with nature.

Sustainable design focuses on stabilizing the planet, cleaning the water and air, conserving energy resources, expanding renewable energy sources, preserving biodiversity, and using materials wisely: all to save the planet. If the planet is “saved,” humanity is “saved.” Society may persist in the future—hence the word “sustainable.” However, it is not that simple. An overall holistic approach to sustainability must address the many economic, social, and aesthetic dimensions of human existence. Sustainable design is more than just the environment.

Sustainable design is a holistic practice. Physical objects, the built environment, and services are designed by responding to the goals and principles of sustainability as viewed from multiple perspectives across space and time. The triple bottom line is a phrase that expresses key concerns of sustainability:

Social equity

Economic prosperity

Ecological protection

A fourth sustainability value, beauty, is added to make sustainable buildings more meaningful and more satisfying.

THE HOLOCENE AND THE AGE OF AGRICULTURE

To see the big picture and understand the threats the world faces, one must look back 12,000 years to the end of the last ice age. Earth entered what is called an interglacial, a period between ice ages when the planet was very warm. The most recent interglacial is called the Holocene. This period of warmth is rare and valuable. The Holocene set the stage for the Age of Agriculture, a population boom, and civilization as it is known today.

A few key points to remember:

The climate today is a rarity in the context of the four‐billion‐year history of the planet.

Humans have emerged as the dominant species on the planet primarily due to the advantageous conditions of the Holocene.

Humans have assumed it is a right to dominate other species and less powerful and less technologically advanced humans in the pursuit of power and resources.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

As the agricultural age progressed, humanity continued to benefit from a warm climate and seemingly infinite natural resources. Technological advances continued to advance humanity's dominion over the environment. It was also a time when the drive for power, profit, and comfort led to the oppression of millions of people through slavery and indefinable levels of environmental destruction. Humanity's consciousness evolved, leading to great scientific discoveries, insight into how the universe works, and critical social innovations such as labor laws, public education, and democracy.

The seeds of today's environmental and social problems originated during this fantastic time of human achievement. The Western industrial revolution saw the introduction of efficient engines to power industrial production and generate electricity. Industry was powered mainly by coal resulting in air tinged by coal smoke casting a pall across European industrial cities. The pollution of the air with coal smoke became the primary environmental concern in London. In response, the early nineteenth century saw the rise of Romanticism with an emphasis on nature and natural beauty. By the late nineteenth century, the first European nongovernmental environmental organizations (NGOs) came into being in London, focused on mitigating air pollution. In North America, John Muir, an early environmentalist, urged the government to create a national park to preserve the natural beauty of the Yosemite Valley. The industrial society sparked increasing environmental and social concerns during the Enlightenment and Romantic movements.

The industrial revolution ended in what is called the “great acceleration.” This was a period during the twentieth century of rapidly increasing negative impact on the earth's environment and systems from human activity, consumption of natural resources, and the unintended results of technological progress. “Progress” is a two‐sided coin. The post–World War II boom led humanity to previously unequaled technical achievements and unprecedented population growth, yet the presumption of inexhaustible natural resources resulted in undisputable environmental destruction.

ENVIRONMENTALISM AND THE AGE OF INFORMATION

1960s

By the 1960s some individuals started to understand that the environment was in trouble. Humanity's very existence was at risk. The world started to study the environment in many ways, purposefully using scientific methods to prove that there was, in fact, a problem. This understanding was the beginning of environmentalism. The American marine biologist, writer, and ecologist Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring, which documented the negative impacts of pesticides on the general ecology. She observed that spraying poisonous insecticides that killed crop‐damaging bugs also killed the birds that ate the bugs. No birds left to sing prompted the title, “silent spring.” Rachel Carson's work called for a change in how the world viewed nature and its ecosystems. Her work, along with many others, led to the birth of the environmentalist movement.

The American civil rights movement, begun in the mid‐1950s and building through the 1960s, heralded a new era of progressive thinking about the global condition of humanity and how social equity in society impacts sustainability. Around the same time a Scottish landscape architect named Ian McHarg wrote a book called Design with Nature, in which he outlined how designers can improve the environment using natural systems through ecological planning. The relationship between urban and natural environments can be synergistic and regenerative when the holistic, living nature of the earth's systems and humanity's impact on it are understood. Such understanding can be used to adapt human patterns and process into integrated ecosystems. McHarg's design approach promoted incorporating the natural world into design projects functionally and aesthetically. He showed that the natural world can, and should, act as a partner and co‐designer in the design process.

McHarg also taught people to think about how the environment of a specific place and time influence their experiences and how broad environmental context influences the design of the built environment. He asserted that projects could and should look different in places with different climates, cultures and geographies.

1970s

The 1970s saw the beginning of a response to environmental concerns. Laws were passed to protect the air, water, and endangered species in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded to fight pollution. E.F. Schumacher, a British economist, examined the economic world, determining that the modern economy was unsustainable with natural resources managed as expendable income rather than nonrenewable capital. Schumacher presented a philosophy based on the appreciation of human needs and limitations in his book Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered.

The 1970s also saw the beginning of the growing public awareness that energy sources such as oil, gas, and coal were limited and that these fossil fuels were a significant culprit in polluting the air and causing climate change. The release of carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases as a result of burning fossil fuel created a thicker than usual layer of greenhouse gases around the planet. Greenhouse gases trap more heat inside the earth's atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise higher than typical expectations.

1980s

Deindustrialization in the American Midwest resulted in the relocation of much of the industrial manufacturing and its accompanying pollution to China and India.

1987

The United Nations formed the Brundtland Commission in 1987 to address the now obvious need for a new model of development, one that would protect the environment and support a more equitable society, a new way forward that would remediate the negative impacts of the Industrial Revolution and conceive of a new way to think about progress. The commission produced a report, Our Common Future, which suggested a new spirit of cooperation. This report expressed the belief that the success or failure of civilization and the planet is a shared goal and responsibility of all nations.

The Brundtland Commission proposed a formal definition of sustainable development. “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs.”1

This definition clearly articulates indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge too often ignored in the name of progress: Humankind must care for the earth as stewards for future generations. The document demands long‐term thinking even when making short‐term decisions, such as designing a building.

1990s

By the early 1990s sustainability began to take more definitive shape as people like John Elkington developed new frameworks like the “triple bottom line” for thinking about sustainability, referencing society, environment, and economy as the more alliterative “people, planet, and profit.”

Figure 2.0 diagrams the triple bottom line sustainability framework as outlined by John Elkington. The three overlapping sustainability concerns—society, environment, and economy—are only fully realized when all three concerns are addressed.

Triple bottom line framework provides an expansive accountability method by which people and organizations can evaluate performance beyond the immediate and direct financial bottom line or profit. Profit, the traditional bottom line for many years, has not accounted for the true project costs. To be sustainable, decisions made by organizations must meet environmental and social bottom lines, not just the economic bottom line. Equal consideration of all three goals by aligning business thinking with social and environmental considerations achieves greater value, by establishing a clearer pathway toward a sustainable future.

Figure 2.0 John Elkington's triple bottom line framework

Source: Rob Fleming

Figure 2.1 Nested triple bottom line diagram

Source: Wikipedia; redrawn by Rob Fleming

The framework of the triple bottom line makes a few assumptions that raise questions. Are all three sectors—the economy, society, and environment—always of equal weight? Can individual sectors be compartmentalized to operate with autonomy? How does an accounting framework deal with the invaluable, irreplaceable aspects of natural resources? While the accountants and politicians may prioritize the economy, it is the environment that is the limiting factor. Consider that the economy exists as a construct of society. Society, human beings, cannot exist without the environment. The nested circles of sustainability in Figure 2.1 better reflect the relationship of the economy as a subset of society and the dependence of society on the environment.

1993

In 1993 the design community formally entered into the sustainability movement. Four significant events occurred that fundamentally shaped sustainable design:

William McDonough wrote

Design, Ecology, Ethics and the Making of Things

, commonly known as the Centennial Sermon, which charged the design community to pursue design as an environmental imperative, leading to an ethical foundation for design rather than the more conventional aesthetically driven creative process.

Hillary and Bill Clinton “greened” the White House by adding solar panels to the roof and by using “green” practices in the restoration of the building.

Susan Maxman became the first female president of the American Institute of Architects, championing sustainability as her platform during the election.

The United States Green Building Council was formed in 1993 and developed the LEED Rating System. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This framework for green buildings is used by thousands of designers, engineers, and clients to achieve projects that minimized environmental damage and increased energy efficiency of projects.

The race toward a sustainable future was accelerating and most Fortune 500 companies, eager to become stewards of the environment, incorporated LEED metrics for green buildings as part of their triple bottom line initiatives. By 2005 thousands of green buildings were constructed all over the world. The green design movement was a success.

2005

In 2005, another series of events occurred signaling society that “greening” was not enough. The environmental problems were bigger and more threatening than previously imagined. The sustaining warm climate of the Holocene had now become hotter, so much so that environmental conditions were changing in dramatic ways. It is not good practice to say that one environmental disaster or another is the result of climate change, but over time, a correlation was starting to become clear: global warming was altering the climate in ways that were not beneficial to humankind.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed much of New Orleans in Louisiana, demonstrating that the new types of storms would be bigger and more devastating than ever. The city's infrastructure could not adequately respond to the extensive and widespread damage. As often happens, those most vulnerable, living in economically disadvantaged areas of New Orleans, suffered disproportionately relative to populations with more significant financial resources and living on the high ground of the city.

In 2005 gas prices hit all‐time highs in the U.S., causing people to think more deeply about limited fossil fuel reserves, long‐term adverse life‐cycle effects, the wasteful use of energy, and the resulting harm to the environment.

2006

Al Gore's book An Inconvenient Truth was released and further embedded in the collected psyche of society the link between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change.

2012

Unpredictable weather has become an ongoing, inevitable occurrence. Rising temperatures and disastrous weather‐related events left little doubt that the effects of global warming were not temporary. Hurricane Sandy and droughts in California further affirmed that reality. The BP oil spill illustrated the dangers of drilling for oil far out to sea; it killed 11 people and inflicted extensive and long‐lasting environmental destruction upon the Gulf of Mexico. However, at the same time, the renewable energy movement had reached full steam with installations of wind and solar farms on the rise.

2017

The year 2017 saw further evidence of extreme climate change in the form of a series of cataclysmic hurricanes—Harvey, Jose, Maria, Irma, and Ophelia—that wrought destruction and caused massive upheaval. These hurricanes, along with a shrinking Arctic ice cap, sea level rise, and record high global temperatures, bring us to today's unsustainable conditions.

REALIZATIONS OF THE HISTORIC SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS TIMELINE

Today there is a growing realization that the earth is under threat. Changes in climate, the temperature rise, and polluted oceans all indicate that a “business as usual” approach to solving these problems will not work. Humanity's thinking must change. A famous quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them,” is more appropriate than ever.

The mindset of each person, each community, each country, and the world must change. Sustainable design offers a pathway to think and act differently. This framework for design is compelling, as well as very complex. Sustainable design is about interconnection, interdependence, integration, and whole systems thinking.

John Muir famously wrote, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Individual “things” (plants, people, communities, watersheds, economies) can't be fully understood apart from their larger systems. It is vital to think of relationships, connectedness, and context. Systems thinking recognizes that the interrelationships are as important as the individual components themselves. When looking at the whole, systems thinking shifts emphasis from objects to relationships, from structures to process, and from contents to cyclical patterns. In systems thinking, cause and effect focuses on cyclical rather than linear processes and implies an interdependence of objects and their attributes.

In this book, Sustainable Design Basics, this way of thinking is called “holistic.” There are “systems” within larger systems. A building sits on the site, the site within the neighborhood, and the neighborhood is a part of the city. The city is within the region and so on. For example, in the ecosystem, air, water, plants, and animals all work together to function. Remove any one element, and the overall system will struggle to survive, and perhaps will even perish. Holistic thinking forms the cornerstone of sustainable design. Without a holistic approach, the built environment's negative impact on the climate will continue. In architecture and design, this holistic approach is called “whole building design, integrated design, or integrative design.” These terms are often used interchangeably to reference cyclical thinking. A linear mindset follows a direct progression, ordering steps as experienced as unique and separate elements, as diagramed in Figure 2.2. Contrast that with cyclical or holistic thinking diagramed in Figure 2.3, indicating the interrelated and cyclical relationship of the sustainable built environment, renewable natural resources, and clear air, energy, and water. Sustainable buildings go beyond addressing a specific building for a specific client. Sustainable design sees each project as connected with the larger environment.

Figure 2.2 A linear mindset

Source: Rob Fleming

Figure 2.3 Cyclical, holistic mindset

Source: Rob Fleming

THINKING AND SEEING FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

Sustainable design is a complex process that integrates many disciplines and viewpoints. One team member will have different priorities for a project than another. One design strategy will leverage specific resources differently than the next. Contradictions are an everyday reality in the sustainable design process. To effectively evaluate and determine the appropriate steps in the sustainable design process, it is necessary to address broad issues that move beyond technology and numeric metrics. The Sustainable Design Basics matrix system organizes each aspect of a project through the four perspectives of performance, systems, culture, and experience, to balance the tangible and intangible concerns of a project. These four perspectives group varied design directives to help evaluate both objective and subjective aspects of a project and identify synergies between them.

INTEGRAL SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Integral sustainable design requires the design of buildings with the understanding that sustainability is more than just energy performance and high performing technology. Figure 2.4 presents two diagrams that organize thinking to include both the objective point of view (performance and systems) and the subjective points of view (experience and culture). It is essential to think holistically and consider performance and systems as equals with experience and culture. The two rows each represent individual and collective points of view. All four perspectives are considered simultaneously in the sustainable design process. The perspectives are evaluated looking inward and looking outward.

Figure 2.4 Four perspectives: holistic design, looking outward, and looking inward

Source: Rob Fleming

THE FOUR PERSPECTIVES OF INTEGRAL SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Performance

Performance is the perspective that addresses the measurable and describable aspects of the project. It is the quadrant most associated with sustainable design because it deals directly with energy efficiency and reducing the environmental destruction resulting from fossil fuel consumption. In this book, performance metrics such as energy use intensity (EUI), which is the measure of energy use in a building, and the daylight factor, which is a measure of daylighting in a building, are thoroughly discussed.

The performance quadrant deals with amounts of things, and any other readily measurable, observable traits. These include facts and statistics, both analytical and logical. Performance is about building characteristics and functional requirements, all of which can be weighed and measured to assess results.

Systems

The systems perspective relates to performance in that both are measurable and describable. The systems perspective has an additional trait of interaction. Systems are dynamic, always changing, with hundreds or even thousands of different interactions. Ecology is a system, as is a car engine. One is natural and one is human‐made, but they are both systems. These systems are closely associated with sustainable building design:

Life cycle systems is consideration of the environmental impact of a product, material, or process, throughout its existence from “cradle to cradle.” The process of extracting, manufacturing, transporting, using, disposing, and reuse of materials all impact the lifecycle of buildings.

Passive systems, commonly referred to as “strategies,” include shading, orientation, natural ventilation, and daylighting. Passive systems do not require an external power source to function.

Active systems use

technologies

such as heating, ventilation, air‐conditioning, plumbing, and transportation, all which require some external power source.

Living systems work with biological sciences and nature to support and create the built environment. Green roofs, living walls, living machines, even the natural percolation of stormwater through the earth soil help buildings and sites become more ecologically sustainable.

Human systems include all the social organizations, policies, and procedures that govern how humans relate to each other and their buildings.

When all of the systems are considered and optimized to work together, building performance is enhanced, leading to measurable energy savings and environmental improvement.

Culture

The culture perspective addresses the intangible aspects of human behavior in groups. Shared values, shared beliefs, religious rituals, local history, cultural heritage, traditions, and norms are all examples or elements of the culture perspective. The vernacular of local architecture and materials is part of the local history and cultural heritage. Material and form have established traditions that are an outgrowth of the local context, materials, and climate. It is essential to understand the principles and materials incorporated into the vernacular and traditional architecture and how they may apply to current architecture and development.

Worldview is the framework that shapes an individual's or societal perception, interpretation, and interaction with the world; it is a vital aspect of the cultural perspective. Worldview defines how society views nature and how people treat each other. The fight for equality in society is endless. It is an ongoing fight for equity in social standing equal pay and treatment of women, better opportunities for people of color, and economic equity in general – the fight for equality parallels and influences the environmental movement. Equity and environmentalism cannot be separated, nor should they be. Empathy is at the core of both environmentalism and equity. The ability to assume the perspective of another person, animal, or nature itself, and begin to operate out of their perspective, is empathy and is the basis of holistic design. Advocate for all, as all deserve equality. Ultimately, a holistic empathetic model of sustainability serves the environment and humanity.

Experience

What about the perspective of architects and designers, the makers of space and places? What role does aesthetics play in the process? What does aesthetics influence in the sustainable design process? Well, in a word, everything. A green building may help “save the planet” but if it is not desirable for people to use, maintain, and love, odds are it will not last very long. Buildings and structures that survive through time, despite the significant and historical upheaval, are buildings that are