Building has an important role in sustainable development, not only because of the participation in the national economy, but it is because built environment has a great influence on the quality of life, comfort, safety, health, etc. Construction, maintenance and update build environment have potential effects on the environment. Buildings consume more unrecoverable resources and create a lot of waste, which cause half of the total amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. The challenge of building is to create economic buildings that increase the quality of life and reduces the social, economic and environmental effects. (Kamar et.al. 2010)
Achieving the goal of sustainability in architecture and construction is becoming more emphasized these days. Sustainable architecture has become a serious challenge irrespective of several theories that have been found unpractical. Looking at past routes of vernacular architecture has solved some sustainable issues appearing after the industrial revolution. In result, new solutions should be proposed to benefit from technology in addition to interaction with environment. In this regard, sustainability approach presented and defined in building and architecture sector to improve these challenges.
Sustainability and sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for people today and the generations to come, this requires the meeting of four key objectives (Bani. 2007).
Social progress which recognizes the needs of everyone;
Effective protection of the environment;
Prudent use of natural resources;
Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.
The main idea of sustainability is to concentrate on environmental conditions to achiev...
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...odel of sustainable building summarize in four categories that main and essential aims in each one are presented. Generally, features of sustainable building are connected with four major objectives in social, economic, technical, technological, environmental groups and these four objectives include enhancing the finance and economic savings, reducing the impact on environment and increasing the compatibility with environment, increasing the social efficiency and usefulness, enhancing the quality, and optimizing the building. This model generally indicates and proposes features which building should have in order to achieve sustainability.
There is an urging need for buildings to become more eco friendly and aware about the worlds environment. The case studies show that with a little extra effort, it can be achieve and can have huge impacts on the environment.
from any form of nature by imitating the nature to solve human problems. High rise buildings have high environmental impacts which can be solved through biomimicry as a response to sustainable problems. For any high rise buildings using biomimicry concepts the solutions to the problems can be given through sustainable means that is biomimicry increases sustainability in high rise buildings. This paper discusses about the research on biomimicry, various levels of biomimicry and their applications in high rise buildings with the help of case studies. It results various design approaches and principles.
Sassi, Paola. 2006. Strategies for Sustainable Architecture. New York: Taylor & Francis. Accessed May 08, 2014. http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YDMXssarPvwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=what+is+sustainable+architecture%3F&ots=IhjJ6e4Nv_&sig=LFyCHxykC3jbFR4LPkdrLn0vUdw#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20sustainable%20architecture%3F&f=false
Mankind has always struggled to seek shelter and was extremely resourceful in providing it. Vernacular architecture is the main result of this most basic human necessity. Vernacular buildings were designed in accordance with certain fundamental principles which included comfort, durability, functionality, aesthetic beauty and affordability. The sustainability in such buildings lies in the fact that they are built to adapt to the regional inhabitants and their needs, and regional conditions, including availability of local materials and building techniques, the climatic conditions and the socio-cultural factors. To ensure the practicality of these structures, builders use knowledge that is based on experience, tested by trial and error and most of the time is passed on from generation to generation.
The definition of Sustainability in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is simply ‘involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources (Merriam Webster, 2014)’. In design we consider sustainability in two different ways:
Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objects of sustainability are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimal waste, and create healthy, productive environments (“Sustainable Design”). Focusing primarily on the sustainable design principles, there are five, including: low-impact materials, energy efficiency, quality and durability, design for reuse and recycling, and renewability. As sustainability appears to become the necessary trend in architecture, the question concerning the cost versus outcome of “going green” really an investment or a waste of time and money comes to mind. With our research provided below, we believe the expenses may truly be with the investment in the end.
The recognition of climate change by scientists, politicians and general public as a great challenge has led to adoption of conservation measures of all resources, energy, water and materials as well as has encouraged sustainable development and building practices. Within the definition of sustainable development, which requires that ‘development meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations’ (WCED, 1987), buildings have an important potential role. As they are made of long-life energy intensive materials and pass on to future generations, if they do not meet the needs of the future, then they can not be considered as sustainable. Furthermore, they are responsible for a great deal of natural resources consumption and consequently for greenhouse gases emissions (Fisk, 2001).
Main Argument: The main argument of this text is that when designing and planning new sustainable architectural designs, key components must be understood and carefully thought about to ensure harmful impacts to the environment are minimised. The following 3 related ideas support this argument: • The idea of just creating a space where it is “green” and is environmentally friendly is not the only thing needed to create sustainable living. Architects need to understand and consider the methods and how the building process is conducted when developing “environmentally friendly” spaces, to help further reduce the impact on the environment. By considering the design under micro, meso and macro levels, the architect can maximise the positive improvement onto the overall health of the environment in which the development will occur.
“Sustainable Development: At its heart, sustainable development is the simple idea of ensuring a good quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It is about living within the carrying capacity of the environment so that how we live, work and enjoy leisure activities, which do not harm or put undue pressures on the environment. It is about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have a decent education, a quality environment that they take pride in, good health and a decent job (n.p, 2014)”
Yan, J. & Plainiotis, S. (2006): Design for Sustainability. Beijing, China: Architecture and Building Press.
Sustainable buildings are becoming somewhat of a necessity in the world today. As the demand for green building develops, so does the demand for green building materials. Just as the old techniques and building materials seem to disappear in the assembly of things, they are now making a come back. Green building focuses on the efficiency of major resources like water and energy. As the cost for sustainable materials and products are on the decline, building green seems to be the most cost effective kind of design and construction. Looking specifically at green materials and their impact on the production of structures, it is evident that they are a prime choice for building material. The use of green materials should be promoted because they are better for the environment, more healthful for the consumer, and better for the economy.
In class we discussed what sustainable development meant to us; each group had its own definition. Our group’s definition was that sustainable development is for the long term for future generations, for the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and job. The basic will increase over time and our resources will diminish, which why sustainable development is important. Sustainable development is important for future generations so that they end up with a world better than ours. Sustainable development is achievable if society works together to meet everyone’s basic needs and create a better world.
Sustainable development means that the present generations should be able to make use of resources to live better lives in such a manner that it doesn’t compromise the ability of future generations to survive and make better lives for themselves as well. For sustainable development to occur, there needs to be sustainable economic, ecological and community development. Society needs to be educated about ways in which they can use resources, especially natural, in such a manner that it doesn’t cause harm to the environment and put future generations lives at risk.
... recognised green rating tool for buildings and it used to promote sustainability in the built environment and provide opportunity to construct green buildings. Since the launched of Malaysia’s own Green Building Index (GBI) in 2009, more and more green buildings can be seen emerging in cities today. It was tremendous for Malaysia to have the Green Building Index as architects have been using foreign benchmarking tools over the years, and yet lacked a single green-branded building. For continuity and consistency, it is necessary that every discipline in the building industry to take initiatives towards designing and buid buildings to comply with the Green Building Index.
Sustainability simply defined to me as balancing act between the development of sustainability is necessary for both planet Earth and humans to survive. This is reinforced in the World Commission on Environment and Development report (1987) that sustainable development must meet the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations”. The Earth Charter Organization widened the idea of sustainability to respect for a culture of peace, universal human rights, nature, and economic justice (What is sustainability?, n.d.).
The future of skyscrapers is in the hands of environmental and architectural engineers that can develop sustainable and cost-effective buildings for commercial and residential use. If skyscrapers can be perfected, as monuments of consumerism and capitalism, the future for them should be in the hands of the people who they once thrived off of. Skyscrapers are used for the majority of the time as corporate offices but, the ability to build space vertically, safely, is so innovative in helping to pacify the global population crisis, and reducing the homeless population.