SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Sustainability and Sustainable Development

DR AVLOKITA AGRAWAL
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

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Venn diagram of sustainable development: at the confluence
of three constituent parts.

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Definitions of Sustainability

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Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council
"Sustainability may be described as our responsibility to
proceed in a way that will sustain life that will allow
our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to
live comfortably in a friendly, clean, and healthy
world
Source: http://www.tjpdc.org/

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Webster's New International Dictionary
"Sustain - to cause to continue (as in existence or a certain state, or in force
or intensity); to keep up, especially without interruption diminution,
flagging, etc.; to prolong."
Webster's New International Dictionary. (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1986)

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Caring for the Earth
"improving the quality of human life while living within
the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.“
IUCN/UNEP/WWF. Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living. (Gland, Switzerland:
1991).(IUCN - The World Conservation Union, UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, WWF -
World Wide Fund for Nature).

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Our Common Future
"Sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs."
Page 8, World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. (Oxford,
Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1987). (Frequently referred to as the Brundtland
report after Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairman of the Commission)

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World Business Council on Sustainable Development
"Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity,
environmental quality and social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need
to perform not against a single, financial bottom line but against the triple bottom
line."
"Over time, human and social values change. Concepts that once seemed
extraordinary (e.g. emancipating slaves, enfranchising women) are now taken for
granted. New concepts (e.g. responsible consumerism, environmental justice, intra-
and inter-generational equity) are now coming up the curve."

Source: http://www.wbcsd.org/

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Characteristics of scientific models
 provide a simplified representation of the reality;
 are testable;
 the models become the object of study;
 are conceptual;
 allow the possibility of measurement and calculation;
 allow explanation of the reality;
 represent systems;
 are isomorphic to the systems that they represents.

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 Sustainometrics
Sustainometrics™ represents a way to describe the Environmental

interconnectedness of five domains of human activity

Socio-cultural
— and their interplay with regard to achieving the goals
of sustainability.
Technological
Taken together, the Five Domains of sustainometrics can
guide holistic solutions, balancing human needs with Economics
the depletion of natural resources.
Public Policy

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Criteria for modelling sustainability
C1 –interdisciplinary approach;

C2 – managing uncertainty;

C3 – a long-range or intergenerational point of view;

C4 – global-local perspective; and

C5 – stakeholders’ participation.

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 Types of models
Pictorial visualization models

Quantitative models

Physical Models

Conceptual models

Standardising models
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 Pictorial Models

Sustainability

Environmental

Economic
Social
Generally, these are popular static models with limited informative
value but powerful in terms of reaching a broad audience.

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 Pictorial models

Economic Social Economic Economic Social

Social

Environmental Environmental Environmental

THE THEORY NOW THE CHANGE NEEDED

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 Quantitative models
macro-econometric models,

computable general equilibrium models,

optimization models,

system dynamics models,

probabilistic or Bayesian network models

multi-agent simulation models

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 Quantitative models
- dominated by the discipline from where they have
originated,
- find ways of embracing uncertainty and dealing to a
certain degree of success with long-range
perspectives.
- poorly equipped to accommodate a holistic
perspective, address the local-global perspective or
acknowledge the need for stakeholders’ participation.
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 Macro-econometric models
• A macroeconomic model is an analytical tool designed to
describe the operation of the economy of a country or a
region.

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 Ecological macro-Econometric model
Generic Environmental impacts What Kind?
Energy Use
How Implemented?
Other Resource Use

Waste Emissions Feedbacks to Economy

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 Computable General Equilibrium Models
• Computable general
equilibrium (CGE) models are
used for measuring the • Sustainability impact
Assessment model
impacts of policy interference - Indicators of sustainable
on policy-relevant economic, development
environmental, and social
(institutional) indicators.
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Computable General Equilibrium Models

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Optimization Models, System Dynamics Models
• Identification of indicators
• Fixation of threshold values and scores
• Setting limits

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 Physical Models
• Physical models are very specific and predominantly local.
• The purpose of their construction is to reduce the uncertainty;
however their time span is quite restricted.
• They allow for a participatory approach and interdisciplinary
perspectives, but by nature are only a fragmented part of the global
sustainability system and
• can rarely serve to main purpose of modelling for sustainability.

https://zeroenergyhouse.co.nz/zero-energy/

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 Conceptual models
• Very broad and is linked to humanity’s waking up to the limits of its natural
environment and the negative impacts that population and its “development”.
• Long-term and intergenerational perspective, majority of them contain a warning
element and signals for alertness, in some cases threats and fears.
• Many ideologically laden, plaid heavily on the political agenda, occasionally allowing
stakeholders’ participation.
• With emphasis on the global, concrete solutions for local problems have been difficult
to find within the theoretical models and some implied consequences have been the
cause of despair and ideological wars.
• Inability to manage uncertainty, wide differences of opinion to emerge. On the
positive side of things, they have generated wide debates and triggered policy
responses.

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Conceptual models
- Neither science nor knowledge consensus drives the international co-
operation
- There is a political dimension to how society perceives science and how
science proceeds in a collective manner
- Montreal Protocol, considered as the most successful international
treaty, how scientists were unsure of the substances that cause ozone
depletion, also how scientists ignored ozone hole above antarctica

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Conceptual models

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 Standardising Models
• Genuine savings indicator (Hamilton et
al., 1997),
• Gross national happiness (Brooks, 2008)
or
• Ecological footprint (Rees, 1992).

Source: http://ophi.org.uk/policy/national-policy/gross-national-happiness-index/

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 Ecological Footprint

Source: https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/

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Ecological Footprint

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Ecological Footprint

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Resource Consumption

Source: Global Footprint Network National Footprint Accounts 2016

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Source: https://www.overshootday.org/
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Earth Overshoot Day

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Source: http://caravandaily.com/earth-dies-faster-this-year-how-many-planets-do-we-need-to-survive-2/