SUSTAINABILITY IN ARCHITECTURE 

In this unit we learnt about how sustainability affects architecture 

Basic conceps 

How to act sustainably?  

There are some things we can (and should) do to reduce our impact on the environment. First of all, we could take into account the carrying capacity of nature in order not to exceed it. Regarding renewable sources, they must not exceed their rate of regeneration and they should eventually replay the non_renewable ones. 

Sustainability is based on three important aspects: social, economic and environmental 

The Life Cycle Analysis is the impact of a product from its production to the end of its life. The more complex this process is, the more energy its consumes. This is related to the ecological footprint, this studies the amount to territory needed to generate the biological resources to absorb the pollution that has been generated by human activity. 

There are three rules that help to cut down the amount of waste we throw away: REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE 

HEALTHY BUILDINGS 

There is a direct relationship between buildings and human health. 

Buildings affect us psychologically. some features such as proportions and colours have an impact on our mental health.  

In addition to that, buildings can suffer sick building syndrome. This can cause illnesses to the inhabitants of the buildings when this is not in good conditions. 

CLIMATE-HUMAN BEINGS 

Some factors directly affect our comfort: temperature, radiation, airflow and humidity 

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN 

BIO-ARCHITECTURE: the architect Markus Tauber defines it as “a philosophy of building, restructuring and living, which aims to establish a balanced relationship between the natural environment and constructions”  

This is linked to bioclimatic, which represents a method of working that consists of carrying on studies of the climatic conditions of the site to achieve sustainability. 

MATERIALS  

Traditional materials tend to be less harmful than synthetic ones. Some materials have chemicals that are extremely dangerous. 

GREEN WASHING 

Finally, we have to be very careful when talking about eco-friendly architecture because it can be green-washed. This means that has some characteristics that make it look like a sustainable building when it really is not. some of these features might be biomorphism, the use of natural materials just for decorative purposes…