ARCH 4561 Final Exam
Natural Step
Developed by Swedish oncologist Karl Henrik Robert in 1989, this system provides a framework for considering the effects of materials selection on human health. The basic principles, or The Four Systems Conditions, assert that in order for a society to be sustainable, • Nature's functions and diversity are not systematically... 1. ...subject to increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth's crust. 2. ...subject to increasing concentrations of substances produced by society. 3. ...impoverished by over- harvesting or other forms of ecosystem manipulation. • Resources are used fairly and efficiently in order to meet basic human needs globally.
Software for Sustainable Design
ENERGY+ CLIMATE CONSULTANT SEFAIRA HONEYBEE / LADYBUG REVIT IESVE TRANE/TRACE EQUEST
Energy Use Intensity (EUI) - Annual energy use in kBTU per square foot
EUI = ENERGY USE INTENSITY KBTU/SF ANNUAL ENERGY USE/PROJECT SIZE
Refuges, Reserves, Preserves, and Conserves
Locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological and/or cultural values
Durable Carbon
Locked in stable solids such as coal and limestone, or in recyclable polymers that are used and reused. It ranges from reusable fibre, such as paper and cloth, to building and infrastructure elements that can last for generations and then be reused.
Reversibility principle
Making decisions that can be undone
Unmarketables
Neither technical nor biological nutrients, or a mix of both (monstrous hybrid).
Ozone depletion
O3 in the ozone layer protects life on earth from harmful UV radiation. Ozone depleted by CFC's, HFC's, and Halons Montreal protocol rare case of effective cooperation
Biodiversity/loss of biodiversity
Predicted loss of 20% of existing species over the next 20 years.
Project delivery
Project Delivery is the process used to take a client's wants and needs from design, through costing and construction, to a finished building and beyond.
Ecological rucksack/MIPS
Quantifies the mass of materials that must be moved in order to extract a specific resource: The material input of a product or service minus the weight of the product itself. The material input is defined as the life-cycle-wide total quantity (in pounds or kilograms) of natural material physically displaced in order to generate a particular product. A.k.a.: Material Input per Service Unit (MIPS)
Mitigation
Reduce emissions and harmful effects
Protecting the rights of the Non-human World / Respect for Nature
Refers to plants and animals, and could be extended to bacteria, viruses, mold, and other living organisms. Why is this important? Because we are dependent on non-human species. Respect for Nature: 1. Humans are members of the earth's community of life. 2. All species are interconnected in a web of life. 3. Each species is a teleological center of life pursuing good in its own way. 4. Human beings are not superior to other species.
Industrial ecology
Refers to the study of the physical, chemical, and biological interactions and interrelationships both within and among industrial and ecological systems.
Embodied energy
Refers to the total energy consumed in the acquisition and processing of raw materials, including manufacturing, transportation, and final installation. Dividing the embodied energy by the product's time in use, yields an indicator of the environmental impact. Also termed "Associated Energy"
The continuum of ecological design approaches (conventional practice -> regenerative design)
Regenerative: Humans participating as nature - Co-evolution of the whole system Reconciliatory: Humans are an integral part of nature Restorative: Humans do things to nature - assisting the evolution of sub-systems Sustainable: Neutral - "100% less bad" (McDonough) Green: Relative improvement (LEED, Green Globes, etc.) Conventional Practice: "One step better than breaking the law." (Croxton)
Precautionary principle
Requires the exercise of caution when making decisions that may adversely affect nature, natural ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles.
Precautionary principle
Requires the exercise of caution when making decisions that may adversely affect nature, natural ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. The Four Tenets of the Precautionary Principle: 1. People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm. 2. The burden of proof of harmlessness of a new technology, process, activity, or chemical lies with the proponents, not the general public. 3. Before using a new technology, process, or chemical, or starting a new activity, people have an obligation to examine a full range of alternatives, including the alternative of not doing it. 4. Decisions applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed, and democratic and must include the affected parties.
Protecting the Vulnerable
Safeguarding populations against the actions of the human species, including: 1. Destruction of ecosystems under the guise of development. 2. Introduction of technology (including toxic substances, endocrine disruptors, and genetically modified organisms). 3. General patterns of conduct (war, deforestation, soil erosion, eutrophication, desertification, acid rain, water in Flint, MI).
Cradle-to-cradle design (McDonough and Braungart)
Separating the materials we use into two categories.
Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA)
A method for determining the environmental and resource impacts of a material, a product, or even a whole building over its entire life. All energy, water, and material resources, as well as all emissions to air, water and land are tabulated over the entity's life cycle. The life cycle, or time period, considered in this evaluation can span the extraction of resources, the manufacturing process, installation in a building, and the item's ultimate disposal. The assessment also considers the resources needed to transport components from extraction through disposal.
Construction ecology
A subcategory of industrial ecology that applies specifically to the built environment: 1.Has a closed-loop materials systems integrated with eco-industrial and natural systems. 2.Depends solely on renewable energy sources. 3.Fosters the preservation of natural system functions.
Biomimicry
Advocates the possibility of creating strong, tough, and intelligent materials from naturally occurring materials, at ambient temperatures, with no waste, and using current solar "income" (sunlight) to power the manufacturing process.
Design for the environment (DfE)
Aka Green Design, is a practice that integrates environmental considerations into product and process engineering procedures and considers the entire product life cycle. may encompass design for disassembly, design for recycling, design for reuse, design for remanufacturing, and other applications
Return on Investment (ROI)
Analyzing long-term costs involves looking at return on investment (ROI), sometimes referred to as the payback period. A real ROI calculation also takes into account inflation and interest rates and attempts to anticipate fluctuations in the cost of energy
Richard Neutra (and his design emphases)
Architect His designs emphasized: • A close connection of living spaces to nature. • The connection between human health and nature. • Explored the relationship between nature and structure. Coined the term biorealism "The inherent and inseparable relationship between man and nature."
Malcolm Wells (and what he is known for)
Architect and author He is known for: • Being the father of gentle architecture and earth-sheltered architecture. • Buildings that maintain themselves, utilize their own waste, provide animal habitat, moderate their own climate, and match nature's pace. Made the Wilderness Value Scale
Frank Lloyd Wright (and his design ideology)
Architect, student of Louis Sullivan His design ideology emphasized: • The underlying structure of nature. • Buildings integral to the site. • Buildings integral to the environment. • Buildings integral to the life of the inhabitants. • Buildings integral to the nature of the materials. "Form and function are one."
Lewis Mumford (and his writing emphases)
Architecture critic and author Believed that what differentiates humans from other species was not tool use, but use of symbols. He coined the terms: Megatechnics - consumer and advertising driven technological production that operates on limitless growth potential. Biotechnics - organic technological production His writings emphasized: • Limited-scale developments • The region as a significant influence on development. • The implementation of ecotechnics - technologies that rely on local sources of energy and indigenous materials.
"Architecture" meaning and etymology
Architecture: Latin "architectura", from the Greek "arkitekton" (ρχιτεκτονική) - arkhitektonike; archos (ρχι) chief or leader and tekton (Τεκτονική) builder or carpenter, is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures. Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and constructing space that reflects functional, social, and aesthetic considerations.
Arithmetic vs. Exponential growth
Arithmetic growth: quantity expands steadily by the same number for a period of time Exponential growth: the quantity expands by a certain percentage per unit of time
Janine Benyus (and what she is known for)
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (1997)
Sustainable development (Brundtland definition)
Bruntland Commission (1987): "...meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."
Biological nutrients
Can be returned to the biological cycle (biodegrade or compost).
Technical nutrients
Can be returned to the technical cycle (recycled or upcycled).
Fugitive Carbon
Carbon that has ended up somewhere unwanted and can be toxic. It includes carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, "waste to energy" plants, methane leaks, deforestation, much industrial agriculture and urban development. Plastic in the ocean is fugitive carbon.
Acidification
Chemicals emitted as air pollution are converted to acids
Organic approach to ecological design ("Prophets")
Combines an activist social agenda with an "natural" design ethic.
Ken Yeang
Designing with Nature (1995) The 3 Steps to Implementing Eco-Design • Analysis: Define the building program as an ecological impact statement. • Synthesis: Produce a design solution that comes to grips with the probable environmental interactions. • Appraisal: Establish the performance of the design solution by measuring inputs and outputs throughout the life cycle.
Ecological footprint
the inverse of Carrying Capacity and represents the amount of land needed to support a given population. This concept serves as a measure of the total resource consumption, thus allowing a simple comparison of the resource consumption of various lifestyles.
Front-loaded design
which advocates the investment of greater effort during the design phase to ensure the recovery, reuse, and/or recycling of the product's components
Deforestation, desertification, and soil erosion
½ of Earth's forests have disappeared. 1-2% of US original forest remains. Desertification is destruction of vegetative cover. Increases potential for erosion.
Polluter Pays principle
• Addresses existing technologies. • Places onus (responsibility) on individuals/corporations causing the impacts.
Regenerative Design (Bill Reed)
• Marks a fundamental shift in thinking about the design of Design Collaborative human systems. • States that "We are faced with the necessity of actually having to help revive nature after the enormous damage done by human activities over centuries." • Goes beyond being merely sustainable to being restorative and ultimately regenerative.
Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan's 5 Ecological design principles
• Solutions grow from place: Every location has its own character and resources. • Ecological accounting informs design: The impact of all decisions must be taken into account, not just economic factors. • Design with nature: Foster a collaboration with natural systems - mimic nature. • Everyone is a designer: The participatory process is key. • Make nature visible: Celebrate natural systems through architectural features.
Biomimcry
• The conscious emulation of life's genius. • "Doing it nature's way has the potential to change the way we grow food, make materials, harness energy, heal ourselves, store information, and conduct business." • "In a biomimetic world, we would manufacture the way animals and plants do, using sun and simple compounds to produce totally biodegradable fibers, ceramics, plastics and chemicals." Biomimetic guidelines for humandesigned systems: • Use waste as a resource • Diversify and cooperate to fully use the habitat • Gather and use energy efficiently • Optimize rather than maximize • Use materials sparingly • Don't foul the nest • Don't draw down resources • Remain in balance with the biosphere • Run on information • Shop locally
Biophilia
The concept that humans have a need and craving to be connected to nature and living things. Nine values of biophilia, offering parallels for sustainable buildings: 1. Utilitarian value: Material benefit from exploiting nature. 2. Aesthetic value: Emotional response from the physical beauty of nature. 3. Scientific value: Systematic study of nature's patterns, structures, and functions. 4. Symbolic value: Use of nature for communication and thought. 5. Naturalistic value: Benefits derived from direct experience of nature. 6. Humanistic value: Relationships between humans and animals. 7. Dominionistic value: Desire to subdue and control nature. 8. Moralistic value: Conduct toward the nonhuman world. 9. Negativistic value: Feelings of aversion, fear, and dislike that humans have for nature
Design-Bid-Build (Hard Bid)
The design team is selected by the owner and works on the owner's behalf to produce construction documents. • General contractors bid on the project, with the lowest qualified bidder receiving the job. • General contractor selects subcontractors based on competitive bidding to the lowest qualified bidder. • Theoretically the lowest cost to the owner, although conflicts among the parties to the contract are common, resulting in higher costs from change orders, repairs, and lawsuits.
Anthropocene
The epoch in which human activities have had a global effect on the Earth.
The three "brains" in human beings
The human brain is a hybrid: an evolved hierarchy of three brains in one. A primitive "lizard" brain, designed millennia ago for survival, lies at its core and cradles the roots of the ancient dopamine reward pathways. the "border crust"—of the early mammalian brain, which is the root of kinship behavior and nurturance. The evolution of mammalian species is marked by a continuous expansion of this cortex, with the prefrontal lobes of the human brain—the powerful information-processing or "executive" brain
Carrying capacity/Biocapacity
attempts to define the limits of a specific land's ability to support people and their activities
Regenerative design
contributes to the health of ALL systems
Anthropocentrism
refers to a human-centered, point of view.
Ecological design
"...that which transforms matter and energy using processes that are compatible and synergistic with nature and that are modeled on natural systems."
Issue-based ecological design approaches
"Limiting the Damage" Approach: High-performance design "Neutral" Approaches: Green design, Sustainable design
Living system based ecological design approaches
"Restorative" Approaches: Restorative design, Reconciliation design The "Regeneration" Approach: Regenerative design
Climate change
"You already know"
Ethics
1. A system of moral principles. 2. The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.
Compounding global warming factors (sea ice, humidity, methane release)
1. CO2 release → warming. 2. Warming melts sea ice, which creates less reflective surfaces → more heat is absorbed by ocean water. 3. Warmer air = more humidity (water vapor), which traps even more heat. 4. As permafrost thaws, methane is released; As oceans warm, methane hydrates melt.
Intergenerational Justice
The choices of today's generations will directly affect the quality of life for future inhabitants of the Earth
Distributional equity and Distributional justice
The right of all people to an equal share of resources, including goods and services, such as materials, land, energy, water, and high environmental quality.
McDonough and Braungart's Hannover Principles
1. Insist on the rights of humanity and nature to coexist. 2. Recognize interdependence. 3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. 4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design. 5. Create safe objects of long-term value. 6. Eliminate the concept of waste. 7. Rely on natural energy flows. 8. Understand the limitations of design. 9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge.
Thermodynamics and dissipation of energy and materials
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Life-Cycle Costing (LCC)
A cost/benefit analysis performed for each year of the building's probable life used to evaluate measures that may require greater initial capital investment but yield significantly lower operational costs over time. Application of LCC can be used to determine whether the payback for a system meets the owner's economic criteria. LCC analysis can also be combined with LCA results to weigh the combined financial and environmental impact of a particular system.
Ecological economics
A fundamental requirement of sustainable development that specifically addresses the relationship between human economies and natural ecosystems.
"Ecology" meaning and etymology
Ecology: From Greek: oikos (οκος), "house" ; -λογία, + logia, "study of", is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. Origin: 1870-75; earlier oecology < G Ökologie < Gk oîk(os) + -o- -o- + G -logie - logy. Term introduced by E. H. Haeckel
Ian McHarg (and his work emphases)
Environmental planner and author His work emphasized: • The lack of a multi-disciplinary effort to produce a built environment that was responsive to nature. • The lack of environmental consideration in planning. • Scientists' lack of interest in planning. • Absence of consideration of life in science.
6th great extinction
Extinction denies ability of species to provide niche in the ecosystem, and denies discovery of potentially useful medicines.
Adaptation
Figure out how to deal with adverse conditions
Technological approach to ecological design ("Wizards")
Futurist in orientation and scientific in method
Adaptive Management
Gary Peterson States that ecosystem functioning can never be fully understood. Management becomes adaptive when it persistently identifies uncertainties in human-ecological understanding and then uses management intervention as a tool to strategically test the alternative hypotheses implicit in these uncertainties. How do we address human inventiveness?
Carbon emissions
Global Carbon Emissions 6.6 billion tons in 2006 10.0 billion tons by 2020 15.0 billion tons by 2030
Methane
Global warming potential worse than CO2: 86x CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents)
Population growth
Growth keeps increasing exponentially and we have basically hit carrying capacity, so we don't have the resources for all of these people at the current rate of consumption World population 1776 - 1.0 billion 1945 - 2.3 billion (169 yrs. later) 2000 - 6.1 billion (55 yrs. later) 2011 - 7.0 billion (11 yrs. later) 2017 - 7.6 billion (6 yrs. later) 2050 - 9.3 billion (estimated)
7-Generation sustainability
In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the future seventh generation.
Economic impacts of climate change
Increased flooding More frequent and severe fires Sinkholes Visible pollution Drought Melting glaciers/ice caps
Substitution and Efficiency in Economic Theory
Increasing efficiency and finding substitutes for depleting resources are undeniably effective adaptive strategies of market economies.
Eco-industrial park
Industrial facility exchanging energy, water, waste and materials among its member companies and organizations.
Buckminster Fuller (and his design emphases)
Inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician, poet, cosmologist, and author "The planet's friendly genius." His designs emphasized: • Resource conservation. • The use of renewable energy. • The use of lightweight, ephemeral materials. • The concept of design for deconstruction.
John Tillman Lyle (and what he is known for)
Landscape architect He is known for: • Designing landscapes that function in the sustainable ways of natural ecosystems. • Regenerative landscapes characterized by the qualities of locality, fecundity, diversity, and continuity.
"Sustainability" various definitions
Lester Brown (1981): "...one that is able to satisfy its needs without diminishing the chances of future generations." SOA Conference (2012): "Sustainability is... Enough, for all, forever."
Living Carbon
Organic, flowing in biological cycles, providing fresh food, healthy forests, and fertile soil. It is something we want to cultivate and grow. Soil includes living carbon in the form of fungi, microbes, humus, legumes, and grasses.
Toxic substances and endocrine disruptors
Over 3,000,000,000 lbs. of toxic chemicals enter the environment each year. Endocrine disruptors interfere with hormones that regulate development and function of bodily organs, physical growth, development, and maturation.
Eutrophication
Overenrichment of water bodies with nutrients
Architecture 2030
PROBLEM: The urban built environment is responsible for most of the world's fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. SOLUTION: Planning and designing collaborative efforts that pave the way to a sustainable and carbon neutral future
Pollution
Plastics & Microplastics, PCB's (from landfills and incinerators), Mercury(~50% from coal plants), Nitrogen & Phosphorus (from fertilizers, seeps into the water and can cause algae blooms, creates a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico), Greenhouse Gasses (CO2, Methane)
Sustainable Design vs. Regenerative Design
Sustainable: no net change Regenerative: positive effects
David Orr
The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention (2002) • Addressing the full array of human interaction with nature, to include how we acquire and use food, energy, and materials and what we do for a living. • Compares ecological design to the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, with its connections to politics and ethics. • Instrumental in developing the Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College.
Passive survivability
The ability of a building to continue to offer basic function and habitability after loss of supporting infrastructure
Waste=Food
The byproducts of one process are the feedstock for another.
Resilience
The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and re-organize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. Can withstand change
Triple-Bottom line
The triple bottom line concept adds two criteria alongside the financial one: how the planet is treated and how people are treated.5 The three bottom lines are frequently referred to as "people, planet, and profit" or "ecology, economy, and equity."
Components of Executing the Green Building Project
This system is distinguishable from conventional practice in several ways: 1. Through the selection of project team members based on green building expertise. 2. Increased collaboration among project team members. 3. More focus on building performance than on building systems. 4. Greater emphasis placed on environmental protection during the construction process. 5. Careful consideration of occupant and worker health throughout all phases. 6. Scrutiny of all decisions for their resource and lifecycle implications. 7. The added requirement of building commissioning. 8. Emphasis placed on reducing construction and demolition waste.
Finite resources
We only have a set number of resources. Some of these resources are renewable or can be recycled.
The Pivotal Role of Energy
With this abundant energy available to drive production processes, it became possible to increase rates of extraction of other natural resources—as, for example, chain saws and powered trawlers could harvest timber and fish at rates previously unimaginable
Depletion of metal reserves
Zinc, copper still at adequate reserves Platinum, Lithium... peak production?
Producer Responsibility
addresses whole lifecycle environmental problems.
