ASSIGNMENT

ROLE OF ARCHITECTS IN
SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE-IX

AASTHA BAGGA
14025006001
B.ARCH SEMESTER-IX
“Architects can directly shape the outcomes of a design process to the betterment of
a community’s overall quality of life, sustainability, social equity, health and resilience.”

The concept of Sustainability has been misunderstood today. Acceptance of this new concept
by the people has not really been satisfactory. People are reluctant to compromise the kind of
lifestyle they live. This compromises the aim of achieving Sustainability.

Green Buildings, improved Sustainability, economy for all and thereby better future is an
important issue that needs thought. Reducing energy consumption in a building is not enough.
Many dimensions need to be considered to achieve sustainability like-transportation networks,
environmental management etc.

Sustainable Development - Solar Towers utilize the natural resource of the Sun

The concept sustainable development has become a global medium for expressing the need to
depart from hither to dominant models of development that apparently fail to balance the needs
of people and the planet in the pursuit of prosperity. Sustainable development is a pattern of
growth in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the
environment so that these needs can be met only in the present, but also for generations
to come. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural
systems with the social challenges facing humanity.

The field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constrained
parts:
a. Environmentally sustainable,
b. Economic Sustainability and
c. Socio-political Sustainability.

The role architects can play falls into the Environmental Sustainability part.

Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure current process of interaction

with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine
as naturally possible. An “unsustainable situation” occurs when natural capital (i.e. the sum
total of nature’s resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished.

Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature’s resources at a rate at which they
can be replenished naturally. Architecture present a unique challenge in the field of sustainable
development.

Construction projects typically consume large amounts of materials, produce tons of waste has
often involve weighting the preservation of building that has historical significance against the
desire for the development of newer, more modern designs. Sustainable development is
important for the environmental stability of our mother earth. The main focus of sustainable
development is to preserve the natural resources and use them very cautiously so that we can
protect out mother earth from devastation.

The architect as the chief builder in the environment has the enormous task in the field of
sustainability. A major contradiction of the 21 century is the exceptional economic growth and
technological advancement while benefiting, many people have unleashed in exorable social
and environmental impact on humanity. In a bid to survive, man is rapidly exposing the planet
earth to the great climatic changes which pose problems to food, energy and ecology security,
and together constitutes constraints to sustainable development.

The definition of Sustainable Development is based on two concepts:

a. The concept of needs, comprising of the conditions for maintaining an acceptable life
standard for all people, and
b. The concept of limits of the capacity of the environment to fulfil the needs of the present
and the future, determined by the state of technology and social organization.

These are the two major concepts that the Architects have to keep in mind while executing any
design concept which speaks of sustainability.
Architecture and Sustainability Factors
Sustainability presents itself as a unique challenge in the field of Architecture Construction
projects typically consume large amounts of materials, produce tons of waste, and often involve
weighing the preservation of buildings that have historical significance against the desire for
the development of newer, more modern designs.

Sustainable construction is defined as “the creation and responsible management of a

healthy built environment based on resource efficient and ecological principles”.
Sustainably designed buildings aim to lessen their impact on our environment through energy
and resource efficiency.

Modern Concepts aiming at Sustainability should include the following principles:

a. Minimizing non-renewable resource consumption
b. Enhancing the natural environment
c. Eliminating or minimizing the use of toxic materials

“Sustainable buildings” can be defined as those buildings that have minimum adverse effects
on the built and natural environments, in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate
surroundings and the broader regional and global setting. Thus, the rational use of natural
resources and appropriate management of the building stock will contribute to saving scarce
resources reducing energy consumption and improving environmental quality.