The World Commission on Environment and Development describes sustainability development as meeting the current needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs. This complex concept is applied to architecture when it refers to the design of healthy living environments, while also aiming to minimise negative environmental impacts, energy usage, and human resource use. For Sustainable Architects, visit https://www.quattrodesign.co.uk/architectural-services/sustainable-design
The materials, construction techniques, resource usage, and general design of a building all reflect sustainable architecture. The design should also promote sustainable operation throughout the lifecycle of the building, and its final disposal. The space must be both functional and aesthetically pleasing, but it also has to be built with the goal of long-term resource and energy efficiency.
Sustainability architecture can also be referred to by the terms eco-architecture, or environment architecture. It requires architects to create smart designs, and to use the available technologies in order to make sure that structures have minimal negative effects on the ecosystem and communities.
Imagine you have a plot of ground that you believe is in a convenient location for you to build a house. It’s not that the land is unsuitable, but that it has 100 trees on it, and they are all of a rare kind. If sustainability isn’t a concern, you may cut down the trees and use the lumber for your home, not caring that no one else will be able to use them in the future.
This is not sustainable architecture. Sustainable architecture is about taking environmental factors into account:
- Can you use a piece of nearby land instead?
- What can you do with some of the wood that is left over from the plantation?
- Can you still build your home in this space without removing all the trees?
When approaching the concept of sustainable design and construction, these are some of the factors to consider. The sustainable architect must take into account the natural resources, environmental conditions and construction site.