Architect Notebook .... WILL IT BE GREEN?

sustainable environment

So far we have established how specific tectonic decisions regarding structure, construction, or environmental performance may affect the formal outcome of our building design, but what of the much broader issue of sustainability and its potential for influencing architectural
form?. Attitudes towards achieving a sustainable environment gathered considerable momentum during the latter quarter of the twentieth century. Consequently, architects practicing in this century now view sustainability as a central plank of their professional skills, and a necessary addition to those traditions already aggregated.


But for the architect, much of sustainability surrounds the minimizing of fossil fuel consumption with an attendant reduction of greenhouse gas emission (of which carbon dioxide represents the main component), which contributes to global warming. The orthodoxy of deep-plan, mechanically air conditioned buildings which relied on high levels of permanent artificial lighting, and often used materials of high embodied energy, has been replaced by buildings designed for natural lighting and ventilation, which harness alternative forms of energy such as solar or wind power.

Climate and natural energy

Harnessing the climate to improve human comfort is nothing new; the Greeks and Romans well recognized the benefits of designing dwellings whose principal rooms faced south to improve thermal comfort. But in some climates, designers are met with the problem of cooling spaces to improve comfort, and here, similarly, we can look to tradition. High-density Middle Eastern courtyard housing used shade and a water fountain to cool air within the courtyard, which was then exhausted via wind towers to assist cooling of the habitable rooms.

Wind Energy

Passive solar energy

Because passive systems of recovering solar energy are readily accessible, and after twenty years’ development have reached a sophisticated level, they are the most prevalent. At a fundamental level, passive solar design depends upon: (a) principal fac¸ades facing south-east to south-west; (b) the site’s orientation and gradient; (c) avoiding overshadowing on site from existing obstructions; and (d) avoiding overshadowing from obstructions beyond the site boundary. Passive systems embrace simple direct gain (of solar energy), indirect gain, or a combination of both.