Plastic waste is a hot topic today, with everyone pointing to its role in contributing to global warming and climate change. However, our focus on only one component deviates us from making the required adjustments in other areas of our life.
It isn't enough to include sustainable practices in architecture because they have become an intrinsic component of the current design.
This industry's carbon footprint might have been significantly lower if sustainable design techniques were more than simply a marketing ploy for architects. However, this isn’t to say that, designers who are concerned about the impact their work has on the environment, only utilise sustainable architecture as a marketing ploy.
The construction industry accounts for a significant portion of our nation's greenhouse gas emissions, and for this reason alone, we must prioritise sustainability in our rapidly-expanding, built environment.
So, how can a structure be described as sustainable?
Sustainable development is a building or development, which meets the demands of its people while minimising the effect it has on the environment.
Green architecture solutions are widely considered, to increase the sustainability of buildings, yet some individuals take gruelling efforts to distinguish between "green" and "sustainable."
The main goal of sustainable architecture is to limit any detrimental environmental repercussions a building has, no matter how they argue or what phrase is used.
An estimated 36% of worldwide energy consumption is allocated to building construction, while cement accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The architectural industry is heavily involved in the causes of and solutions to climate change. Buildings designed to be environmentally sustainable strive to reduce their negative effect on the environment by using energy and water optimisation techniques, environmentally friendly construction materials, and landscaping that respects the site's biodiversity and natural characteristics.
Unfortunately, most green building rating systems only consider environmental factors, leaving out important considerations of long-term health and well-being. As a result, their potential impact on the design and construction industries is limited.
To reduce the effects of climate change, the responsibility of an architect must be to evaluate the design, construction, and operation of buildings on a scale that ranges from the cutting edge to the average dwelling. For humanity to survive, and one day, maybe flourish, architecture will need to adapt along with the changing environment, and will need to do so, immediately.
We should be asking ourselves why, in this day and age, with the repercussions of climate change pervasive in our everyday lives, we haven't made substantial changes to the structures we design away from significantly utilising concrete?
In 2012, concrete manufacturing was accountable for 9% (around 1.7% of the world's water use) of worldwide industrial water demand, which resulted in severe droughts.
Additionally, 2.8 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions are emitted every year by the cement industry. If the cement industry were a country, it would be responsible for the third-largest CO2 emissions in the world.
The fact that concrete is the second most utilised material in the world after water should be enough to encourage us to either cease using it or use it more responsibly in the future.
Concrete is also a major contributor to the Urban Heat Island Effect when it’s utilised in cities.
This, in turn, exacerbates the consequences of global warming, resulting in far more extreme heat waves in urban areas and a large increase in cumulative warming. Substituting sustainable alternatives or repurposing existing materials for concrete may greatly lower the construction sector's ecological footprint.
Materials such as concrete, wood, glass, and metal obtained from destroyed structures, can often be recovered and utilised in new constructions. Consequently, industry attitudes regarding materials, building, and sustainability must evolve to make this a reality.
Per the American Green Building Council, 36% of all CO2 emissions come from buildings. For example, there is a dramatic increase in the final cost of constructing a building when additional infrastructure and operations like transportation are included.
The emphasis is already on passive strategies, largely dependent on how sensitively the structure is oriented to take advantage of what the wind and sun may supply and preserve temperatures without the need for energy. But the “active design” must also be long-lasting and ecologically responsible.
Sustainable design and green architecture may get more complicated as projects expand in size. Alternative techniques to environmental design and construction, in the long run, are likely to include more materials, energy, and other resource concerns.
Amidst this, sustainable design's fundamental principles are straightforward. In architecture, sustainable design strategies may be used to any degree, regardless of the purpose.
“The best way to predict the future is to design it”- Buckminster Fuller.
Written by Zuha Majid (@zuha_majid)
BIO:
Hi! I am an architecture student with a passion for writing.
Coming from the Maldives, a country prone to even the slightest environmental damages, it is natural for me to worry about the consequences of the damage currently being done to the environment, which instilled deep fears within me. And that fear is what drives me to have a voice and be a part of the necessary changes.
Email: zuhaamajid@gmail.com