Understanding Sustainable Architecture

by Williamson, T. J.; Radford, Antony; Bennetts, Helen

• ISBN13: 9780203217290
• ISBN10: 0203217292
• Copyright: 2004-01-14
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Understanding Sustainable Architectureis 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.

Table of Contents

Sustainability

ESD

A Global Framework

A Cultural/Philosophical Framework

The Manageable (But Fragile) Earth

Images

Fields of Significance

World Citizens and Pluralism

The International Culture of Architecture

Architectural Expression

The Natural Image

The Cultural Image

The Technical Image Overlapping Images

Ethics

Questions About Value

The Moral Class

Rights and Duties

The Consequentialist Approach

Intergenerational Equity

Environmental Ethics

Discourse Ethics

Beautiful Acts

Objectives

Stakeholders

Knowledge

Design Advice

The Globaliazation of Standards and Regulations

Local Context

Systems

A Systems View

Buildings As Systems

The Environment

Social and Cultural Relevance

The Occupants

Economic Performance

The Building

The Life-Cycle of a Building

Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment

Environmental Assessment

Economic Assessment

The Environmental Assessment of Building

Iterative Multiple Criteria Decision-Making

Recognising Assumptions

Green Houses

Climate and Architecture

The Science of Global Warming

The International Politics

Global Warming and Building Design

Building Design and Climate Change

The Appropriate Objectives

Cohesion

Responsive Cohesion

Place, People and Stuff

Reflective Practice and Reasoned Argument

Credibility ,Transferability, Dependability and Conformability

Public Policy, and the Status Quo

Future

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