Understanding That Environmental Responsibility Is An Integral Part Of Design Excellence Essay

The indefinite growth of the human population, has monumental impacts on the natural environment, not only in the UK, but around the globe. Architecturally, the entire process of designing and constructing a building, both domestic and not, can lead to the rapid exhaustion of natural resources across the planet. Building with environmental design strategies in mind not only combats the impact we as humans have on the natural environment, but also has considerable economic benefits, due to lower running costs of buildings and advanced occupant productivity. There are also many social benefits, such as improved air quality which resultantly leads too enhanced health of a buildings occupants.

Being environmentally friendly isn’t merely a trend. After thousands of years of using the earth’s resources, we have finally come to realize that we are destroying this beautiful gift we were honored with. Architects play an influential role in trying to preserve this gift by encouraging a multitude of strategies that can be more cost efficient in the long run, be more comfortable for its users, and most importantly, have a lower carbon footprint. Strategies can include drastic changes to heat and air systems, construction material selections, or even specific design details to the architecture of a building that would reduce the amount of energy it consumes.

• The study also examines how the relationship between human well-being and the natural world can attribute to the welfare of future generations through design and consideration for a sustainable environment (C1, Section 4). For example, the structure allows for future flexibility with possibilities to reconfigure the internal layout and expand the basement to meet changing demands of future occupants.

I hold an M Arch degree from the University at Buffalo with a specialization in environmental design. As a practicing professional I have owned and operated a design business for more than twelve years in Rochester, New York. Upon obtaining my master's degree I established the first company in Western New York to specialize in natural building technologies and clay finish plasters. The company has grown to include full services for sustainable residential, retail, institution and hospitality interior design. Architecturally, I collaborate with licensed professionals to design sustainable homes that range from the completely natural to hybrid structures featuring energy-efficient technologies. In tandem with my design business I was an assistant professor and interior design program coordinator at Alfred State College teaching in both interior design and architecture. My personal practice and management experience in corporate industry create wonderful opportunities to explore real world design issues in the studio and with the community. I look forward to sharing these experiences and my research interests with all of

The book ‘Design futuring: Sustainability, ethics and new practice’ and the author, Tony Fry talks about the time and its relationship with design. He reconceptualise the practice of design. In his view, the design plays an important role in our life. Our capability to prefigure what we create, before the act of creation, makes us human. After all, what we design, design us. Then he talks about the possible way of design futures and figures out the problem of existing in our notion of design, then suggest the sensible suggestion, which could be the solution in our unsustainable world. In his perspective of design is that we must change how we think about design. Fry makes a well-researched, articulate and passionate case for these changes, supporting his argument with a variety of fresh ideas, evidence, examples and philosophic reasoning to make the case for an expanded and revitalized profession of design.

An ecological footprint tells us how much land and sea area is required to produce the resources and living necessities for some number of human beings upon it , as well as how much that area of land or sea absorbs carbon dioxide emissions. But it also helps us tell how much our particular land/sea area used for living compared to the land/sea area available on the planet (thus one might say, as in my case, that if everyone lived like me we would require 3.9 earths to allow for them to live, sustainably). ==========

There is fairly sound evidence out there that points to the devastating repercussions we may face if we carry on exploiting our natural resources at the same pace. Most Americans are familiar with the environmental “crisis” to some extent but evidently not enough to take necessary action to reverse the damage we may have caused. Although people are aware that recycling is good and many might even go to the extent of changing light bulbs and driving hybrid cars, it isn’t quite enough, as many seem to think considering their minor efforts. As the evidence states, playing dice with Mother Nature doesn’t give us the best stakes. As a result there are plenty of educated people and organizations out there trying hard to make a difference, and yet people seem very reluctant to fully engage in environmental causes. This lack of engagement is what I wanted to investigate by looking at it from an angle of how the media are presenting valuable information to the public.

While the intentions behind this approach might be commendable, in reality, the question of sustainability and longevity become apparent. As was the case with the faculty buildings by Kroll, the individualisation, which made the project such a great success for the people involved, only lasted one generation – in this particular case only four years. Though a more extreme example, as the degree of participation was unusually high and the span of occupancy relatively low, it shows the potential problems with participatory design approaches.

The Second and Third Year is an extension of the first two years of Study and electives related to design specific interests are introduced. The level of Design also moves to a complex one of spatial, material, contextual nature and how they impact the design. Advance Computer Technologies and electives pertaining to it are introduced to help students identify different modes of representations. Environmental Studies remains a special focus to understand the impact of it on the built environment and to be socially responsible in the Design process in this stage of the program. The choice of subjects and electives are similar to what both the Australian Universities have to offer.

Environmental ethics are a guide to addressing the relationship between humans and the natural environment along with its non-human components. Having ethical standards is a huge component of designing for the well-being of people and the Earth. As designers, “it is to be our obligation to preserve the environment for the future generations to come” (Han, 2013). The Hannover principles created by William McDonough provide guidelines to follow when designing ethically. They speak on the importance of co-existence and creating long term, permeant buildings (Stacy, 2017). The foundation of environmental ethics feeds right into these Hannover principles. McDonough hopes that the “Hannover principles will allow is to continue to develop and live modernly as we have without compromising the ability of the world to support us” (McDonough, 1992). McDonough incorporates his principles into his own designs as well as his Cradle to Cradle method of design. Cradle to Cradle homes are “designed to produce more energy than they consume and have a positive impact on the environment” (“Cradle to Cradle® - Make It RightMake It Right,” n.d.)

High-performance, sustainable/green buildings have become a trend and are gradually entering the mainstream as an important market sector in the United States and globally. Construction of a sustainable building typically begins with the selection of a suitable site. A building’s location and orientation on a site impact not only a wide range of environmental factors but also security and accessibility factors. The Site Assessment pilot credit for site sustainability measure promotes understanding of the character of the site and the physical, biological, and cultural links between the site and the surrounding landscape. Performing an inventory of the site maximizes the environmental efficiency of design and provides an

Behavioral changes are not always easy to change. First, management must realize and address the unwanted behavior and then the individual must agree that they have a problem. Simply agreeing on the problem is not enough. As Waldroop and Butler (1996) point out, behavioral change is possible only when it is voluntary, and willingness to change depends on the individual, who has to be willing to do something about improving their unwanted behavior. This leads into the next common challenge

The following report answers questions on design deficiencies. It will describe three design disasters and examine the causes of the disaster and the impact they had on future designs. It will then discuss a “design and layout” case study and the setting up of a contractor management system for a site expansion.

2015). In order to achieve this goal, the whole life cycle of a building should take into consideration sustainability at the beginning of the design process. I am interested in ARP because as an architect, we make the brief and it will not only impact on the building but also have many impacts on the site, the environment and society. One example, is when facing a heritage building. In my current studio, Leftover, the site is located in the UTS Bon Marche Building precinct which contains a heritage building on the UTS campus. Students in this studio have a chance to redesign the site, which means we have a challenge to decide whether to demolish the building or retain and reuse it. No matter how, the decision would change the whole life of this corner and influence the future of the surrounding as well. The studio has been given a series of research of the internal, the site and the envelope to discover the information for the design position. As a result, we have learned the background of the site, and the surrounding, but there is gap with regard to the values relating to the heritage building in ARP. They are environmental value, social value, economic value - the key concepts of sustainability. Although these are the same as that of the building owners and practitioners but due to issues with the limitation of space in the layout, conservation risk and the unclear potential

There are different environmental factors that need to be considered in any sustainable building design. The main objectives of an environmental friendly design are to reduce or avoid the depletion of the critical environmental resource including raw materials, water, and energy (Hawkes, 2013). Furthermore, the construction designs should be able to prevent environmental degradation negative impact on the environment that may be due to the infrastructure or the facilities in the building over a period of time. This are the main critical factors, therefore, to be able to ensure that there is less environmental impact, the optimization of the site is very important and this includes the orientation of the site and the energy use as well as the transportation methods of the materials (McMullan, 2012). These features are very significant. Another essential element is the optimization of energy use including reduction of energy load and finally the conservation of water and recycling of used water.