Certificate Course in Community Architecture and Urban Design

University of Santo Tomas

Environmental and
Sustainable Design
Strategies
Antonio L. Fernandez, D. Eng.
 Examine the considerations on
sustainable urban environments such as
adaptation and mitigation measures,
energy efficiency, water management.
Objective Focus on approaches to providing
solutions concerning the built
environment and sustainability.
 90

80

Urbanized 70

population, 1960 60

and 2017 50

(World Urbanization 40

Prospects 2014, UN) 30

20

10

1960 2017
 90

80

70

Philippines & 60

UK: a 50

Comparison in 40

terms of 30

Urbanization 20

10

0
Philippines UK

1960 2017
  Environmental design and
planning
 Multidisciplinary approach
A response to to the built environment
the times
including natural, work and
social environment
 Sustainable design
 "development that meets the needs
of the present without
Sustainable compromising the ability of future
development generations to meet their own
needs.“
- 1987 Brundtland Report “Our Common Future” (World
Commission (on Environment and Development)
Key elements Economic
of sustainable efficiency
development

After Munasinghe, M.,1992.

Environmental Economics and
Sustainable Development, Paper
presented at the UN Earth Socio-political Environmental
Summit, Rio de Janeiro,
Environment Paper No. 3, World
acceptability soundness
Bank, Washington DC, USA.
  “…everything
humanly made,  Components:
arranged, or
Built maintained to fulfill 1. Products
environment human purposes 2. Interiors
(Bartuska, Tom K., 2007. McClure W. (needs, wants, and 3. Structures
R. & T.J. Bartuska, eds.,The built
environment: a collaborative inquiry values) to mediate
into design and planning, J. Wiley & the overall 4. Landscapes
Sons.)
Professor Emeritus of the School of environment with 5. Cities
Architecture and Construction
results that affect
Management at Washington State
University the environmental 6. Regions
context.” 7. Earth
  Products: materials and commodities generally created to extend the
human capacity to perform specific tasks (ex. Tools, materials,
machines)
 Interior spaces: arranged grouping of products and generally enclosed
within a structure.
 Structures: planned groupings of spaces defined and constructed of
Interrelationships products; related activities are combined in composite structures
(housing, buildings, infrastructure); defined by an internal space and
among built an external form.
environment  Landscapes: exterior areas and/or settings for planned grouping of
spaces and structures; combine both natural and built environments.
components
 Cities: groupings of structures and landscapes of varying sizes and
complexities, gathered together to define a community for social,
cultural, economic, and/or environmental reasons.
 Regions: groupings of cities and landscapes of various sizes and
complexities.
 Earth: includes all of the above.
Top 10 Eco-Friendly Cities

https://www.facebook.com/toptruths/
https://www.toptruths.com https://www.advexon.tv

https://www.facebook.com/toptruths/ https://www.toptruths.com
https://www.advexon.tv
Spatial scale
of urban
environmental
problems
 Holistic vs. Piecemeal
Human well being ≠ Economic growth
Dualities
A way of life vs. Professional activity
Resource use vs. Ecological footprint
 Choose a particular research problem (or case scenario).
Then, create an analytical framework to help address the
chosen problem. Do this by picking up specific
One-day sustainable development ideas relevant to community
architecture and urban design in built environment from
project the today’s presentation and discussions.
Draw a diagram to illustrate the framework. Prepare a
short description.
 Climate
Disaster risk
change
Development
can increase
disaster risk.

Development
Composite
hazard map of
the Philippines

 Source: Office for Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Regional Office for Asia Pacific.
(Issued 8 March 2007)
 + Development

Development Development
Linking can increase can reduce
vulnerability vulnerability
disasters and
development - Disasters can
Disasters can +
provide Disaster
set back
development
development
opportunities

-
  1972 UN Conference on the
 Environmental Human Environment (Stockholm
Declaration)
pollution and
 1976 Habitat I
degradation
 1992 UN Conference on
Setting the  Rapid urban Environment and Development:
population growth Agenda 21
Context  1990-1999 International Decade of
 Natural resource Natural Disaster Reduction
(in Time & depletion  2004 Hyogo Framework for Action
Space)  Poverty  2015 Paris Agreement on Climate
Change (COP21)
 Changing climate  Sustainable Development Goals
 Increasing vulnerability (towards 2030)
 2016 Habitat III
 Megacity character Attributes

 Topography & morphology

 Complex
 Hazardscape
 Heterogeneous  Risk profile (exposure,
communities vulnerability)
Urban context  High population density  Socio-economic conditions
 High exposure to various  Cultural diversity
hazards  Historical assets (heritage)
 Nested administrative  Inter-regional and intra-city
units disparities
 Interconnectedness to global
economy & supply chains
Exercise 1

a) Individual
List issues and concerns related to the urban environment
that impinge on your practice of architecture (e.g., design of
buildings and structures)?

b) Small group discussion 1:

Share the result of your personal reflection to the rest and
agree on a common list. You are encouraged to combine or
group items (if related) and discuss to adopt a heading
acceptable to the group.
  Development  Sustainable development
 Planning  Urban planning, town and country planning
 Decentralization, devolution, subsidiarity
 Environment  Built environment
 Environmental impact
 Ecology
Useful terms/  Resources including amenity
concepts  Suburbanization, peri-urban areas
 Community
 Citizen participation, empowerment, participatory methods
 Living environment
 Resilience
Adaptation:
A typology
of hazards
 Human lives
Property: cost to business and the rest of
Adaptation: society; structural damage
Disaster losses Impaired city functions (lifelines, critical
we need to infrastructure)
reduce Environmental impacts
Information losses (documents, records,
databases)
Climate Extreme weather
change Climate variability
 Biophysical effect of an event –
population and ecosystems

Climate  Time factor - long term impacts of

change climate variability and
environmental change among
climate change experts
 Climate change adaptation
(Synonymous with disaster risk
reduction)
 Adjustment in natural or
human systems in response
to actual or expected climatic
stimuli or their effects, which
moderates harm or exploits
beneficial opportunities.
Dealing with o Policy instruments
climate o Technological and
structural measures
change o Non-structural measures
o Risk transfer
o Change of use, activity
or location
o Protection of
environmental services
Mitigation
 Human intervention to
address anthropogenic
emissions by sources and
removal by sinks of all GHG,
including ozone-depleting
substances and their
substitutes.
o Energy
o Water
o Ecosystem services
 Can potentially affect the
introduction of new risks and
their impact of disasters on
people, shaping new policy
related to risks,
Exercise 2

What measures can those in the architecture and allied

professions do to deal/cope with climate change impacts? Make a
list as in Exercise 1.
 CONCENTRATION
INCREASE IN GHG

& ATMOSPHERIC
WARMING
AFFECTED MITIGATION &
CONSEQUENCES IMPACTS
SECTORS ADAPTATION
Linking
consequences & Air & water quality

sectors with SEA LEVEL

WATER degradation

potential ECOSYSTEMS
Increased diseases SHORT-TERM

impacts & FOOD

Lower water availability

climate change TEMPERATURE

COASTS
Increased flooding

mitigation/ Increased heating & cooling

demand
MEDIUM TERM

adaptation PRECIPITATION
HEALTH
Increased migration of
people

options INFRASTRUCTURE
Inundation of coastal
regions

TRANSPORT
Increased peak energy loads LONG-TERM
EXTREME EVENTS

ENERGY Loss of cultural heritage

 Developed by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel,
is a measure of the amount of land required to sustain
human activities, in the long term, by providing food,
water, energy and materials and by assimilating waste.
Climate The ecological footprint can be used to calculate the
land requirements of a population, building or activity.
mitigation:
Ecological
To sustain the average US lifestyle an area of 9.6
footprint hectare is required. The typical European’s ecological
footprint ranges between 3–6 hectare and that of the
average Indian is 1 hectare.
  Ecological footprint (EF): tool to measure and track the
impact of our efforts to remediate climate change,
both in terms of the pressure we put on nature and of
the capability of the planet to provide for these
demands.
Aids to Climate
Mitigation
 Carbon footprint (CF): makes up 60% of the EF;
measures the area of forestland that is required to
absorb all the carbon emissions from human activity in
excess of what the oceans already absorb (can also be
expressed in tonnes of CO2 emitted).
Source: https://www.footprintnetwork.org
 U.S.
• Commercial and residential
building sector accounts for 39%
of carbon emissions. Most come
Carbon from fuel combustion to provide
heating, cooling and lighting,
emissions: and to power appliances and
What do we electrical equipment.
 Emissions results from the
know about manufacture and transport of
buildings building construction and
demolition materials and
transportation associate with
urban sprawl.
Source: Environmental and Energy Study
Institute (http://www.eesi.org/files/climate.pdf).
U.K.
 According to the Technology
Strategy Board, in the UK,
the construction, operation
and maintenance of the built
environment accounts for 45% of
total UK carbon emissions (27%
from domestic buildings and 18%
from non-domestic buildings).
 According to the UK Green
Building Council, around 10% of
the UK’s carbon
dioxide emissions are directly
associated with construction.
This includes the CO2 generated
through the entire building
process:
  “…development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs. It contains with it two key
concepts:
oThe concept of ‘needs’, in particular the essential
needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding
Sustainable priority should be given; and
development oThe idea of limitations imposed by the state of
technology and social organization on the
environment’s ability to meet present and future
needs.”

- World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common

Future, 1987.
  The concept & practice of reducing disaster
risks through systematic efforts to analyze and
manage the causal factors of disasters,
Disaster risk including through reduced exposure to
reduction hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and
property, wise management of land and the
(DRR) environment, and improved preparedness for
adverse events.
  Risk = Consequence x Probability (of hazard)
 Exposure/Elements at risk: people, structures,
Contributions economic & social activities
of DRR to the  Consequence/Loss: a function of vulnerability

built - The degree of loss depends on the characteristics of

the element of risk (how vulnerable is the exposed
environment element).
discourse  Vulnerability: the underlying factors of risk; the inverse
of resilience
  Risk = Vulnerability x Hazard
where Vulnerability = f(physical, economic, social, environmental)
o Physical: location, type, characteristics of construction,
economic activities, spatial distribution of people (population
density), settlement patterns
o Economic: income level, type of occupation, level of skills,
number of income earners
o Social : social position, social group, social network (rootedness),
Reducing Risk health condition
o Environmental: type of ecosystem, deforestation, erosion
and Hazard denotes potential of experiencing it in a given location
within a specific timeframe.
Reduced Risk = Vulnerability x Hazard – Mitigation
– Preparedness
Exercise 3

List measures that can help reduce losses:

(a) from natural disasters such as earthquake, tsunami, landslide,

flood, strong wind/typhoon, drought.

(b) from man-made disasters such as fire, chemical spills, bomb,

terrorist attack.

Provide a short description. Are there measures that are common

to some disasters? Are they effective? If not, what are the issues
that make these measures ineffective?

1. Legislation, enforced
codes & standards
2. Zoning ordinances/land
use planning
Relevant 3. Voluntary standards
instruments & 4. Performance standards
approaches 5. Green architecture and
design
6. Green building initiative
7. ISO standards
8. Planning guidelines
9. Retrofitting; in situ
improvement
10. Sustainable buildings &
construction
12. Building back better
11. Environmental
psychology
12. Integration of sustainable
design
- Ekistics, urban metabolism,
environmental carrying
capacity, ecosystem
services
13. Climate data and
scenarios

 Integration of disaster risk
reduction into:
1) national and local
government development
planning
Mainstreaming/ 2) Day-to-day operations
• Use of climate scenarios
‘process (based on projections)
integration’ • Risk-sensitive land use
planning
• Participatory process
 Urban environmental
planning
 Defensible city (protection
against disasters)
 Responsible architecture
 Urban disaster governance
Source: Wamsler, Christine, 2006.
Mainstreaming risk reduction in urban
planning and housing: a challenge for
international aid organizations, Disasters 30
(2): 151-177.
https://www.preventionweb.net/files/11113_
fulltext.pdf
  Co-benefits approach and avoidance of maladaptation
 Ecosystem services: regenerative urban design
 Policy design – health impact of urban planning through transport
mode options (in the context of SDGs) Ex. Melbourne School of
Population and Global Health
Integrative  Inclusive design for the PWDs

means  Stakeholder participation/engagement

 Visualization techniques/decision aids & tools
 Research: transdisciplinary (co-production, co-creation, co-
design), urban research with other research fields, synthesized
comparison beyond best practices (F. Koch, et al, 2017)
Models of participation
Arnstein, 1969; Eyben, 2003;
Wilcox, 1994) using the
common visual metaphor of
the ladder.
Participatory processes are
seen to progress up the rungs
of the ladder from insincere and
manipulative fora, to ones
which give citizens increasing
power and autonomy. The base
of each ladder is a term
denoting the perceived nature
of power and state -society
relationships implicit in each
model.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Models-of-participation-Three-models-of-participation-
Arnstein-1969-Eyben-2003_fig1_46559948
Risk
management
standard
(from AS/NZS
4360:2004 to
ISO 31000:2009)
 Adaptation to climate change
 ISO/DIS 14090: Principles, requirements and
guideline
Under  ISO/WD 14091: Vulnerability, impacts and risk
development assessment
at ISO:  ISO/AWI TS 14092: GHG Management &
related activities: requirement & guidance of
promoting adaptation planning for organizations including
good practice local governments and communities

Source: https://www.iso.org/news/ref2289.html
Ecosystem
services
the benefits that people
obtain from the structure
and function of ecosystems
 EXERCISE 4
Contributions
of Architecture Discuss at least three (3) instruments/approaches from
the perspective of architecture and the allied fields that
& Allied Fields you are professionally involved in. List the contributions
to that these are promoting sustainability. Consider risks in
the built environment as broadly defined by Bartuska
Sustainability (and the interrelationships among products, interiors,
structures, landscapes, cities, regions, earth).
Philippine
DRRM
framework
 Central Coordination + Local Implementation + Participation

Mainstreaming
model: an urban
risk
management
framework
(Earthquakes &
Megacities
Initiative)
Urban Factors/processes in Preparedness at
Societal/
development
society 's vulnerability different social levels
resilience (in measures
• Buildings • Institutions • Resources and
the context of • High-risk areas • Individual, means
household & • Critical facilities,
disasters) •
•
Environment
Livelihood and jobs community levels infrastructure &
• Whole of society- lifelines
• Social fabric &
networks Preparedness
Source: Fernandez, A., 2014. A • Whole of society –
Review of the Local HFA Report Social services
(draft)
THE URBAN  Vancouver, Canada – green buildings
 Seoul, Korea – social mobilization
GREEN:
 Gothenburg, Sweden – electric vehicle
SUSTAINABLE  Chongyang, China – sustainable investments
SOLUTIONS  Paris, France – renewable energy
FOR THE  Capetown and Tshwane – energy and housing
CITIES (WWF)
 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+urban+green