Professional Documents
Culture Documents
University of Michigan
University of Michigan
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov
Arquivos em .PDF
Disponível em:
http://www.umich.edu/~nppcpub/resources/compendia/architecture.html
Introduction to
Sustainable Design
Written by
Jong-Jin Kim, Assistant Professor of Architecture,
and Brenda Rigdon, Project Intern
Published by
National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education,
430 E. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115
734.764.1412 • fax: 734.647.5841 • nppc@umich.edu
website: www.umich.edu/~nppcpub/
Fundamentals
Changing our Definitions of Growth and Progress.................5
Resource Consumption and Environmental Pollution............5
Sustainability in Architecture.................................................. 6
400
Canada consumption of various countries demonstrates this trend. As
USA
shown in Figure 1, industrial countries with higher incomes
300 consume more energy per capita than developing countries.
Among industrialized countries, the energy intensity of
200 Germany
Canada and the United States is the highest, while Japan’s is
UK
Japan
much lower. This implies that it is plausible for a society to
N Korea
France
Italy
establish resource-efficient social and economic infrastructures
100
Korea
while raising its economic status. A society (household, com-
Hong Kong munity, city, or country) with such an infrastructure will be
0
0 10000 20000 30000
less susceptible to resource shortages, more reliable by itself,
Per-Capita Income (US$/yr) and thus more sustainable in the future.
Figure 1: Correlations between The correlation between per-capita income and per-capita
per-capita incomes and per- water consumption reveals a similar pattern (see Figure 2),
capita energy consumption
as does the emission of environmental pollutants to the
levels of selected industrialized
and developing countries. [Source: atmosphere (see Figure 3). Developing countries’ energy
Herman Daly, Steady-State Economics use, water use, and share of global environmental pollution
(Washington: Island Press, 1991).] is expected to increase.
Sustainability in Architecture
1500 The World Commission on Environment and Development
USA has put forth a definition of “sustainability” as
Canada
Per Capita Water Use (gal/day)
(CO2 Eq.-ton/yr)
economic development will necessitate more factories, office UK Germany
USSR
buildings, and residential buildings. For a household, the Brazil
growth of incomes will lead to a desire for a larger house 10
Italy France Japan
with more expensive building materials, furnishings and
home appliances; more comfortable thermal conditions in
Korea
interior spaces; and a larger garden or yard. China
During a building’s existence, it affects the local and global 0 10000 20000 30000
Per-Capita Income
Per Capita Income(US$/yr)
($/yr)
environments via a series of interconnected human activities
and natural processes. At the early stage, site development and Figure 3: Correlations between
construction influence indigenous ecological characteristics. per-capita incomes and per-capita
Though temporary, the influx of construction equipment and pollutant production of selected
industrialized and developing
personnel onto a building site and process of construction countries. [Source: Herman Daly,
itself disrupt the local ecology. The procurement and manu- Steady-State Economics (Washington:
facturing of materials impact the global environment. Once Island Press, 1991).]
built, building operation inflicts long-lasting impact on the
environment. For instance, the energy and water used by its
inhabitants produce toxic gases and sewage; the process of
extracting, refining, and transporting all the resources used
in building operation and maintenance also have numerous
effects on the environment.
Strategies
Methods
Energy Conservation
After construction, a building requires a constant flow of energy
input during its operation. The environmental impacts of
energy consumption by buildings occur primarily away from
the building site, through mining or harvesting energy sources
and generating power. The energy consumed by a building
in the process of heating, cooling, lighting, and equipment
operation cannot be recovered.
Water Conservation
A building requires a large quantity of water for the purposes
of drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning, flushing toilets,
irrigating plants, etc.. All of this water requires treatments
and delivery, which consume energy. The water that exits
the building as sewage must also be treated.
Material Conservation
A range of building materials are brought onto building sites.
The influx of building materials occurs primarily during the
construction stage. The waste generated by the construction
and installation process is significant. After construction,
a low-level flow of materials continues in for maintenance,
replacement, and renovation activities. Consumer goods
flow into the building to support human activities. All of
these materials are eventually output, either to be recycled
or dumped in a landfill.
Processing
Manufacturing
Recycle
Reuse
Building Phase
This phase refers to the stage of a building’s life cycle when a
building is physically being constructed and operated. In the
sustainable-design strategy, we examine the construction and
operation processes for ways to reduce the environmental
impact of resource consumption; we also consider long-term
health effects of the building environment on its occupants.
Post-Building Phase
This phase begins when the useful life of a building has ended.
In this stage, building materials become resources for other
buildings or waste to be returned to nature. The sustainable-
design strategy focuses on reducing construction waste (which
currently comprises 60% of the solid waste in landfills1) by
recycling and reusing buildings and building materials.
1
Sim Van der Ryn and Peter Calthorpe, Sustainable Communities
(San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1986).
... from the time construction ... from the time they arrive
begins through the duration of at the site for installation or
the building’s useful life. operation though the duration
of the building’s useful life.
... after the building’s useful life. ... after the building’s useful life.
Human Comfort
As discussed previously, sustainable design need not
preclude human comfort. Design should enhance the work
and home environments. This can improve productivity,
reduce stress, and positively affect health and well-being.
Summary
Economy of Resources
Energy Conservation
Energy conservation is an input-reduction method. The main
goal is to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Buildings con-
sume energy not only in their operation, for heating, lighting
and cooling, but also in their construction. The materials
used in architecture must be harvested, processed, and trans-
ported to the building site. Construction itself often requires
large amounts of energy for processes ranging from moving
earth to welding.
Economy of Resources
Strategies
Methods
Insulation
High-performance windows and wall insulation prevent
both heat gain and loss. Reducing such heat transfer reduces
the building’s heating and cooling loads and thus its energy
consumption. Reduced heating and cooling loads require
smaller HVAC equipment, and the initial investment need
for the equipment will be smaller.
Daylighting
Building and window design that utilizes natural light will
lead to conserving electrical lighting energy, shaving peak
electric loads, and reducing cooling energy consumptions.
At the same time, daylighting increases the luminous quality
of indoor environments, enhancing the psychological well-
being and productivity of indoor occupants. These qualitative
benefits of daylighting can be far more significant than its
energy-savings potential.
Reduce Consumption
Water supply systems and fixtures can be selected to reduce
consumption and waste. Low-flow faucets and small toilet
tanks are now required by code in many areas of the country.
Vacuum-assisted and biocomposting toilets further reduce
water consumption. Biocomposting toilets, available on both
residential and commercial scales, treat sewage on site, elimi-
nating the need for energy-intensive municipal treatment.
Consumer Goods
All consumer goods eventually lose their original usefulness.
The “useful life” quantifies the time of conversion from the
useful stage to the loss of original usefulness stage. For in-
stance, a daily newspaper is useful only for one day, a phone
book is useful for one year, and a dictionary might be useful
for 10 years. The shorter the useful life of consumer goods,
the greater the volume of useless goods will result. Conse-
quently, more architectural considerations will be required
for the recycling of short-life consumer goods.
Pre-Building Phase
During the Pre-Building Phase, the design of a building and
materials selected for it are examined for their environmental
impact. The selection of materials is particularly important at
this stage: the impact of materials processing can be global
and have long-term consequences.
Strategies
Methods
Building Phase
The methods associated with the Building Phase strategy are
concerned with the environmental impact of actual construc-
tion and operation processes.
Post-Building Phase
During this phase, the architect examines the environmental
consequences of structures that have outlived their usefulness.
At this point, there are three possibilities in a building’s future:
reuse, recycling of components, and disposal. Reuse and
recycling allow a building to become a resource for new
buildings or consumer goods; disposal requires incineration
or landfill dumping, contributing to an already overburdened
waste stream.
Recycle Materials
Recycling materials from a building can often be difficult due
to the difficulty in separating different substances from one
another. Some materials, like glass and aluminum, must be
scavenged from the building by hand. Steel can easily be
separated from rubble by magnets. Concrete can be crushed
and used as aggregate in new pours.
Humane Design
Strategies
Use nontoxic,
non-outgassing
materials
American Institute of Architects. Environmental Yeang, Ken. Designing With Nature : The Ecological
Resource Guide Subscription. Washington: AIA, 1992. Basis for Architectural Design. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1995.*
St. John, Andrew, ed./BSA Architects for Social
Responsibility Committee. Sourcebook for Sustainable
Design: A Guide to Environmentally Responsible
Energy
Building Materials and Processes. Boston: Boston
Society of Architects, 1992. [bsarch@architects.org Conservation Services Group. Energy Crafted
or 617/951-1433 x 221] Homes Training Manual . Brattleboro, Vt.: West River
Communications, 1990.
Smith, E. W., and G. S. Austin. “Adobe, Pressed
Earth, and Rammed Earth: Earth Industries in New Cook, Jeffrey, ed. Passive Cooling. MIT Press, 1990.
Mexico.” Bulletin 127. Socorro: New Mexico Bureau
of Mines & Mineral Resources, 1989. Energy Resource Center. ERC Sourcebook. Downey,
Calif.: Southern California Gas Company, 1995.
Recycling and Reuse Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. The
Population Explosion . New York: Simon & Schuster/
Touchstone, 1990.
Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens
After They’re Built. New York: Penguin Books,
1994.* Ekins, Paul. A New World Order: Grassroots Movements
for Social Change. London: Routledge, 1992.
Fitch, James Marston. Historic Preservation: Curatorial
Management of the Built World. Charlottesville: Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society. New York:
University Press of Virginia, 1990.* Vintage Books/Alfred A. Knopf, 1964.
National Trust for Historic Preservation. Respectful Galston, William A., and Karen J. Baehler. Rural
Rehabilitation. Washington: Preservation Press, 1986. Development in the United States: Connecting Theory,
Practice, and Possibilities. Washington: Island Press,
April 1995.
Sustainability
Gilovitch, Thomas. How We Know What Isn’t So:
Bateson, Gregory. Mind and Nature: A Necessary The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life.
Unity. New York: Bantam, 1979. New York: McMillian Free Press, 1991.
Bongaarts, John. “Can the Growing Human Gore, Al. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human
Population Feed Itself?” Scientific American 270 Spirit. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1992.
(March 1994): 36–42.
Gottleib, Robert. Forcing the Spring: The Transformation
of the American Environmental Movement. Washington:
Island Press, 1993.
Hollender, John A. How to Make the World a Better Lovins, Amory, and William D. Browning. “Vaulting
Place. New York: William Morrow, 1990. the Barriers to Green Architecture.” Architectural
Record 180, no. 16 (December 1992).
Holmberg, Johan. Making Development Sustainable.
Washington: Island Press, 1992. Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, and
Jorgen Randers. Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global
Holton, Gerald. Science and Anti-Science. Cambridge, Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future. Post Mills,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993. Vt: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1992.
Hyams, Edward. Soil and Civilization . New York: Merritt, F. S. Building Engineering and Systems Design.
Harper & Row, 1952. New York: VanNostrand Reinhold, 1979.
Jackson, Wes, Wendell Berry and Bruce Colman, Milbraith, Lester. Envisioning a Sustainable Society:
eds. Meeting the Expectations of the Land: Essays on Learning Our Way Out . Albany: State University of
Sustainable Agriculture and Stewardship. San Francisco: New York, 1989.
North Point Press, 1984.
Miller, Joseph A., Sarah M. Friedman, David Grigsby,
Kaplan, Robert D. “The Coming Anarchy.” The and Annette Huddle, eds. The Island Press Bibliography
Atlantic Monthly 273 (February 1994): 44–46 of Environmental Literature: The Yale School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies. Washington: Island Press,
Kennedy, Paul. Preparing for the Twenty-First Century. 1993.
New York: Random House, 1993.
Moore, Fuller. Environmental Control Systems. New
Kirby, John, Phil O’Keefe, and Lloyd Timerlake, eds. York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Development.
London: Earthscan, 1994. [www.earthscan.co.uk] National Commission on the Environment. Choosing
a Sustainable Future: The Report of the National
Korten, David C. Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Commission on the Environment. Washington: Island
Action and the Global Agenda. West Hartford, Conn.: Press, 1993.
Kumarian Press, 1990.
Odum, Howard. “Self Organization Transformity, and
Lebel, Gregory G., and Hal Kane. Sustainable Information.” Science 242 (Nov 25, 1988): 1,132–1,139.
Development: A Guide to Our Common Future. The
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Orr, David. Ecological Literacy: Education and the
Development. Washington: The Global Tomorrow Transition to a Post-Modern World. New York: State
Coalition, 1989. University Press, 1993.
Lechter, Norbert. Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Pearson, David. The Natural House Book . New York:
Methods for Architects. New York: John Wiley, 1991. Simon & Schuster, 1989.
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac . New York: Piasecki, Bruce, and Peter Asmus. In Search of
Oxford University Press, 1949. Environmental Excellence: Moving Beyond Blame. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
Lewis, Martin W. “Environmental History Challenges
Myth of a Primordial Eden.” Chronicle of Higher Population Institute. Global Population: Gaining People,
Education (May 4, 1994). Losing Ground. Washington: Population Institute, 1993.
Lockwood, Steve, and Doug Greenwood. “Building Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture
with the Future in Mind.” Facility Management Journal to Technology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
(Jan/Feb 1994). [713/623-4362 or www.ifma.org.]
Rifken, Jeremy. The Green Lifestyle Handbook. Watson, Donald. “The Notion of Critical Practices:
New York: Henry Holt, 1990. Roles for Educators in Continuing Education.”
Proceedings, 82nd Annual Meeting, Association of
Roszak, Theodore. The Voice of the Earth: An Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Washington:
Exploration of Ecopsychology. New York: Simon & ACSA, 1994. [To order, see www.acsa-arch.org/
Schuster, 1993. publications/index.html or call 202.785.2324.]
Rubin, Charles. The Green Crusade: Rethinking the ———. “The Research/Design Studio: A Modest
Roots of Environmentalism. New York: The Free Press, Proposal to Improve Education and Practice.”
1993. Proceedings, 81st Annual Meeting, Association of
Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Washington:
Rybczynski, Witold. Paper Heroes: Appropriate Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture,
Technology Panacea or Pipe Dream? New York: 1993. [To order, see www.acsa-arch.org/
Penguin Books, 1991. publications/index.html or call 202.785.2324.]
Schon, Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner: How Wilson, Edward O. “Is Humanity Suicidal: We’re
Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books, Flirting with the Extinction of Our Species.” New
1993. York Times Magazine (May 30, 1993).
Schwartz, Peter. The Art of the Long View: Planning The World Commission on Environment and
for the Future in an Uncertain World. New York: Development. Our Common Future. New York:
Doubleday, 1991. Oxford University Press, 1987.
Shepard, Paul, and Daniel McKinley. The Subversive Wrong, Dennis H. The Problem of Order: What Unites
Science: Essays Toward an Ecology of Man. Boston: and Divides Society. New York: The Free Press, 1993.
Houghton-Mifflin, 1969.
Sitarz, Daniel, ed. Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Urban Planning
Strategy to Save Our Planet. Boulder: Earthpress,
1993. Gordon, David, ed. Green Cities: Ecologically Sound
Approaches to Urban Space. Montreal: Black Rose
Stableford, Brian, and David Langford. The Third Books, 1990.*
Millennium: A History of the World: AD 2000–3000.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. Hart, John. Saving Cities, Saving Money: Environmental
Strategies That Work. Sausalito, Calif.: Resource
Stine, Sharon R. “Design and Implementation of a Renewal Institute, 1992.
Sustainable University Student Living Laboratory.”
In U.S. Green Building Conference – 1994. NTIS Spirn, Anne Whiston. The Granite Garden: Urban
Special Publication 863. [To order, call NTIS, Nature and Humane Design. New York: Basic Books,
800/553-6847, or see www.ntis.gov, and request 1984.*
#PB94206364.]
Anderson, Bruce. Solar Building Architecture. Brown, G. Z. Sun, Wind, and Light. New York:
Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1990. John Wiley, 1985.
One of a 12-volume series summarizing federally An examination of design decisions that affect a
sponsored research in solar energy systems. Discussion building’s energy use. Emphasis is on utilizing onsite
limited to the use of solar radiation for heat; does not resources in the forms of solar, wind, and geothermal
cover photovoltaics, wind or wave power, or biochemical energy. Intended for the reader with some back-
energy production. A brief examination of historical, ground in architecture and energy principles. [BR]
climate-responsive archetypes is included, but the
focus is on current technology, research, and applica- Crowther, Richard L. Ecological Architecture.
tions. Urban planning and site issues, energy storage Boston: Butterworth Architecture, 1992.
and distribution, and the importance of building The author is a practicing architect who has
envelope design are discusses in independent chapters. applied sustainable design concepts throughout his
Specific situations of envelope-dominated buildings and career. He argues for the necessity of sustainable
interior load-dominated buildings are also addressed. design, discusses the strategies, and leads the reader
This book is for people who have a solid background through the process. Eleven case studies of his buildings
in architecture and some understanding of thermo- are included; addressed are interior as well as exterior
dynamics. [BR] issues and the need for integration of technology and
aesthetics. The economics of design choices, at the
Barnett, Dianna Lopez, with William D. Browning. micro and macro levels, are examined. The book
A Primer on Sustainable Building. Snowmass, Colo.: includes a reference section for design issues and
Rocky Mountain Institute, 1995. suggestions for improving sustainability. While
Introduces the concept of sustainable design, written for architects and architecture students, the
reasons for using its principles, and general guidelines information is presented in a format that is accessible
for its application. Deals with site development, to the general reader. [BR]
transportation issues, building configuration, alterna-
tive energy systems, water conservation, and building Fitch, James Marston. Historic Preservation: Curatorial
materials. Includes an extensive listing of other Management of the Built World. Charlottesville:
publications, non-profit groups, and journals that deal University Press of Virginia, 1990.
with sustainable design issues. Geared primarily Presents economic, aesthetic, and cultural
toward home-owners, but principles are applicable to arguments for the preservation and/or adaptive reuse
commercial/industrial construction as well. [BR] of existing structures. Traces the history of the historic
preservation movement in the U.S. Both preservation
Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens theory and specific techniques for reconstituting
After They’re Built. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. damaged building fabrics are explained. Examples
An examination of the adaptive reuse of existing include the Plimouth Plantation and Colonial
structures. Guidelines for designing easily adaptable Williamsburg are used to examine the pros and cons of
building are discussed. [BR] recreating historic structures. Includes a section on
Required reading for a multitude of topics on designing additions to historic buildings and retrofitting
architectural reuse. Chapter 12, “Built for Change,” old buildings with new mechanical/electrical systems.