Sustainable Architecture White Papers

A remarkable collection of vibrant and diverse readings, Sustainable Architecture White Papers explores the critical link between our built and natural environments. Cutting-edge architecture, design, planning, public works, and education leaders illustrate the value of a new architectural strategy. Sustainable Architecture teaches us that when creative processes are used in conjunction with social, cultural, and environmental systems, architecture can meet the aesthetic and practical requirements of today without compromising the needs of future generations. A sample of the contents reveals a top-notch team of forward-thinkers: William McDonough: "Eco-effectiveness: A New Design Strategy" Croxton Collaborative Architects: "Human-Centered Sustainable Design" Architectural Record: "Taking the Elective Out of Environmental Education" Karl Linn: "Reclaiming the Commons" Pliny Fisk: "Advanced Green Building" James Wines: "The Art of Architecture in the Age of Ecology" Emilio Ambasz: "Green Towns" This beautifully assembled compilation, published by the Earth Pledge Foundation, follows on the success of Sustainable Cuisine White Papers and reflects the organization's mission to promote sustainability, primarily in the areas of architecture and cuisine. Working with architects, builders and designers, and farmers, chefs, and restaurateurs, Earth Pledge creates nonprofit media projects that promote "green living" in these respective areas. With a preface by Paul Hawken, this is a star-studded collection of essays on sustainable architecture that speaks to professionals and nonprofessionals alike. A perfect read for anyone interested in how the architecture and design aesthetic connects with environmental sustainability.

As buildings are responsible for fifty per cent of CO2 emissions, their design has become the focus of intense technical scrutiny. Knowing how to build more technically efficient, or ecologically responsible, buildings, and being able to assemble the social resources to do so, requires different forms of knowledge and practice. There is wide contestation over the optimal pathways to greener buildings design and great diversity in practices of sustainable architecture. This volume brings together leading researchers from across the European Union and North America both to illustrate the diversity of practice and to provide a critical commentary on this key debate. The reader is provided with an introduction to competing perspectives on the sustainable architecture debate, international exemplars of differing practice and an overview of new theoretical and methodological resources for understanding and meeting the conceptual, social and technical challenges of sustainable architecture.

This book is a guide to a sustainable design process that moves from theory, to site and energy use, to building systems, and finally to evaluation and case studies, so you can integrate design and technology for effective sustainable building. Kuppaswamy Iyengar shows you how to get it right the first time, use free energy systems, and utilise technologies that minimize fossil fuel use. Each chapter has a sustainable design overview, technical details and strategies marked by clear sections, a summary, and further resources. Heavily illustrated with charts, tables, drawings, photographs, and case studies, the book shows technologies and concepts integrated into cohesive project types, from small and large office spaces to single and multiuse residences, hospitals, schools, restaurants, and warehouses to demonstrate implementing your designs to meet clients' needs now and for the future. Includes an overview of alternate assessment and evaluation systems such as BREEAM, CASBEE, GBTool, Green Globes alongside LEED, ECOTECT, energy 10, HEED and eQuest simulation programs. The guide reveals the importance of the building envelope—walls, superstructure, insulation, windows, floors, roofs, and building materials—on the environmental impact of a building, and has a section on site systems examining site selection, landscape design, thermal impact, and building placement.

Each day new articles, books, and reports present new methods, standards, and technologies for achieving sustainability in architecture. Additionally, new materials, technological gadgets, and data are increasingly considered the staples of architecture’s future. As we increasingly embrace this techno-advancement, we must be equally aware that we may be pushing architecture into a managerial science and away from its core concerns such as expression, contextuality, functionality and aesthetics. Sustainable architecture that is focused on the abstract measurements of consumption, energy, and emissions loses sight of the vital role that architecture holds in our world: it is the field that creates our public spaces and our places of dwelling, of business, of production, of leisure, and creation. Additionally, it fails to comprehend the human dimension of buildings, as elements that are deeply connected to their sites’ historic contexts and that play a key role in defining our social relations and our connection to the spaces we occupy and utilize. “Sustainable Architecture – Between Measurement and Meaning” takes a step back to reflect on how sustainability in the built environment can be theorized and practiced critically. This book exposes that architecture remains a human and social science that lies at the intersection of measurements and meanings. It reveals that sustainable architecture can still operate in a dialectic space of expression, rather than serving as a manifesto for either the technical or socio-cultural extremes. It purports that the human intuition, senses, and skills still holds the key to unravelling alternative futures of sustainable built spaces. And that most importantly, humans still have a place in sustainable architecture. This book will be of interest to students, early career scholars, established researchers and practitioners studying sustainability in the built environment. It can be used as a referencee to those in the fields of design, architecture, landscape and urban design, urban studies, geography, social sciences, and engineering.

"With this book, Robin Guenther and Gail Vittori show us how critical our green building mission is to the future of human health and secures a lasting legacy that will continue to challenge and focus the green building movement, the healthcare industry, and the world for years to come." —From the Foreword by Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council INDISPENSABLE REFERENCE FOR THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE DESIGN Written by a leading healthcare architect named one of Fast Company's 100 most creative people in business and a sustainability expert recognized by Time magazine as a Green Innovator, Sustainable Healthcare Architecture, Second Edition is fully updated to incorporate the latest sustainable design approaches and information as applied to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. It is the essential guide for architects, interior designers, engineers, healthcare professionals, and administrators who want to create healthy environments for healing. Special features of this edition include: 55 new project case studies, including comparisons of key sustainability indicators for general and specialty hospitals, sub-acute and ambulatory care facilities, and mixed-use buildings New and updated guest contributor essays spanning a range of health-focused sustainable design topics Evolving research on the value proposition for sustainable healthcare buildings Profiles of five leading healthcare systems and their unique sustainability journeys, including the UK National Health Service, Kaiser Permanente, Partners HealthCare, Providence Health & Services, and Gundersen Health System Focus on the intersection of healthcare, resilience, and a health promotion imperative in the face of extreme weather events Comparison of healthcare facility-focused green building rating systems from around the world Sustainable Healthcare Architecture, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the design, construction, and operation of state-of-the-art sustainable healthcare facilities.

Understanding Sustainable Architecture is a review of the assumptions, beliefs, goals and bodies of knowledge that underlie the endeavour to design (more) sustainable buildings and other built developments. Much of the available advice and rhetoric about sustainable architecture begins from positions where important ethical, cultural and conceptual issues are simply assumed. If sustainable architecture is to be a truly meaningful pursuit then it must be grounded in a coherent theoretical framework. This book sets out to provide that framework. Through a series of self-reflective questions for designers, the authors argue the ultimate importance of reasoned argument in ecological, social and built contexts, including clarity in the problem framing and linking this framing to demonstrably effective actions. Sustainable architecture, then, is seen as a revised conceptualisation of architecture in response to a myriad of contemporary concerns about the effects of human activity. The aim of this book is to be transformative by promoting understanding and discussion of commonly ignored assumptions behind the search for a more environmentally sustainable approach to development. It is argued that design decisions must be based on both an ethical position and a coherent understanding of the objectives and systems involved. The actions of individual designers and appropriate broader policy settings both follow from this understanding.

Beginning in England, white papers have long provided a forum for exploring important social and political issues. Earth Pledge publishes the series on sustainable development to highlight and encourage discussion about the issues of sustainability the world faces in the twenty-first century. This remarkable collection, featuring essays by academics and experts in the fields of cuisine, architecture, and fashion, identifies the barriers to sustainability, provides solutions to overcome them, and celebrates the pioneers who lead the charge toward meeting the practical requirements of today without compromising the needs of future generations. Included in this beautifully packaged 3-book box set are: FutureFashion White Papers, Sustainable Architecture White Papers, and Sustainable Cuisine White Papers

Filling a gap in existing literature on sustainable design, this new guide introduces and illustrates sustainable design principles through detailed case studies of sustainable buildings in Europe, North America and Australia. The guide will provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the design issues involved in delivering sustainable buildings, and giving detailed description of the process of integrating principles into practice. Approximately one hundred case studies of sixty buildings, ranging from small dwellings to large commercial buildings, and drawn from a range of countries, demonstrate best current practice. The sections of the book are divided into design issues relating to sustainable development, including site and ecology, community and culture, health, materials, energy and water. With over 400 illustrations, this highly visual guide will be an invaluable reference to all those concerned with architecture and sustainability issues.