Basics of Sustainable Architecture

Sustainable Architecture

Sustainable architecture, or ecological architecture as it is popularly known, is without doubt industry’s biggest major shift in today’s day and age. Having embedded itself in every fabric, material and systems of the future, the term essentially means “giving more to the people and taking less from earth”. The term refers to the utilization of environmentally conscious materials and design techniques within the field of design and architecture, and the concept blends design and nature, making the homes of the future progressive, inspirational and energy efficient. Sustainable architecture designs seek to decrease the adverse environmental impact of buildings by enhancing the efficiency of the spaces, energy and the building materials themselves.

Sustainable building materials

Ecological architecture makes use of local materials and avoids the usage of materials harvested in some distant land, thus eliminating the already unnecessarily high carbon footprint. Using local materials considerably benefits the local economy as well, enabling in the creation of more local jobs. Additionally, such architecture makes use of natural materials in building structures, such as bamboo, locally obtained stone rock, calcium sandstone, wood-fiber plates, coconut, see-grass, flax linen, clay, rammed and baked earth, self-healing concrete, trass, linoleum, sustainably harvested wood, and even recycled denim. Not only do they tend to have a higher sense of aesthetic appeal, but they also make for a very healthy living environment for the inhabitants. Such materials also provide superior acoustics and superior day lighting, as opposed to artificial materials which require all sorts of additions and deletions in material.

Sustainable design systems

The main objective of sustainable architecture is to attain energy efficiency over the lifetime of the building, and today’s architects attempt various techniques to increase the building’s capability to generate its own energy instead of sourcing the same from the outside. For example, the sun is the biggest form of energy available. Using the sun to maximize solar gain by orienting the house is an excellent way to harness valuable energy. Passive solar buildings designs, which are somewhat relatively widely unknown today, even eliminate the need for solar panels and PV cells. Such orientation plus the green building material significantly reduces the home’s energy requirements. The same passive design for cooling by insulating the home well will work wonderfully to reduce energy needs, such as the use of Masonry building materials with high thermal mass.

Sustainable energy savings appliances and systems

Using renewable forms of energy creates immense savings in energies as well as costs. For example, using the sun’s energy will definitely reduce the energy bills, as the ability of people to withstand a price increase and deal with the fluctuations is greater than those grid-dependent people. Conserving water by fixing all leaky faucets, recycling gray water, harvesting rainwater and sticking to water-saving rules such as taking shorter showers will go a long way in building ecological architecture. Other appliances such as solar panels, water heaters, wind turbines and heat pumps can also be used.

The ethos of sustainable architecture is simple – building structures with the surroundings and its future in mind. A paradigm shift from the days of yore, ecological architecture is the dawn of a new and better tomorrow.

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