Sustainability  Ranking Systems

  In this weeks reading we are introduced to many new sustainability focused organizations. Each one focusing on having its own individual criteria for classification regarding various structures. some may ask "why is this important?", "is it really necessary to be an efficient architect / interior designer?" The answer to this may have more layers then anticipated.

These various organizations each have their own requirements to receive specific rankings. In this chapter we cover the importance of striving towards a completely substantiable building; being that these buildings contribute as little pollution or environmental damage as possible. 

How is this sustainability achieved? Well there are many contributing factors, such as, water efficiency, energy/atmosphere, materials and resources, innovation and design along with much more. Depending on where your building the primary organization may change, in the U.S we typically focus for LEED certifications (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

This chapter is introducing us to the many contributing factors in the pursuit of sustainability. All organizations introduced in one way or another are put in place to protect the environment from potential damages that come with creating buildings. A secondary benefit to transitioning to more sustainable designs opens the door to more possibilities and could even be more cost effective.

Ecological Design 

In the pursuit of sustainability, designers began implementing  ecological designs in order to mitigate harsh environmental impacts. This is achieved in the form of  design focuses that promote species diversity, minimizing resource depletion, preserving nutrients and water cycles to name a few. Sim Van Der Ryn and Steward Cowan in their book argues for people to work alongside nature in their buildings, industries agriculture and methods of production. Integrating these ecological design gives the designer more tools to create stunning and more efficient projects. 

Ecological footprint

This chapter is getting us to see all the impacted factors that our future professions could cause. By incorporating more sustainable ideas we can lower our ecological footprint but utilize nature to aid in our designs. In the text we learn that our ecological footprint is a tool we use in our field to "measures how much land and water a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes, and to absorb its waist under prevailing technology."

First, Second and Third Party Oversight

When designing sustainable buildings there are many channels of oversight that our projects must go through to achieve higher and more desirable ratings. Starting with first party, this form of oversight is done by the manufacturer themselves, in a case like this there is a clear conflict of interest because this could create an opportunity for someone from that manufacturer to stretch the truth in terms of the sustainability of their product. In the second party overview the purchasers of those products can conduct their own standard of certification of the products sustainable features. In the third party, an outside organization is used to inspect the products and utilize their own internal standards to insure the effectiveness of the product, this proves to be the most transparent of the three.

Week 2 Topic

    Being an architecture major I find our studio to be very inspirational and as classes continue I'm beginning  to understand why I appreciate it so much. When I entered into the upper studio for the first time I immediately knew this is where I wanted to be. While I'm in studio it feels as if I'm apart of something bigger than myself. Being in a space like this motivates me to want to create something that can inspire others like upper studio does for me.

Physically I find that the setup of the studio helps ideas flow better while working. I feel as though the many windows and the ample sunlight are a key factor to this. In a more spiritual sense tying back to the feeling of being apart of something bigger then myself I find that the concept of creation is a beautiful thing. Putting the time and effort into making something with your own hands and your own ideas leaves a piece of yourself in that creation. If that's how I feel about making modles out of wood and cardboard, I can only imagine how God feels about all of us.

Week 2 - Conclusion

In conclusion, this week we were introduces to the concept of sustainability and its effect on our environment. In a profession like ours it can be easy for our ideas to have a harsh impact on nature and as more buildings are made the more true this becomes. There are many organizations that dedicate themselves to this very thing and issue rankings to those who meet their specified standards. It is our job as designers to take these ideas seriously when developing our skills, not only to mitigate negative impacts on nature but because it also promotes a healthy environment for the people within those buildings themselves. It is a win-win situation which we should strive for in our future.

Week 3- Construction

In this weeks readings we learned about the the elements of construction and how we as designers utilize those elements along with the environment to create more efficient buildings. It is our jobs as architects and designers to collaborate and find ways to implement specific tactics in order to maximize  sustainability and cost effectiveness. When beginning a project it is important to keep in mind that there are thee factors that we should account for; regulatory, aesthetic and environmental. Regulatory involves the administrative elements in the process regarding zoning, building codes and site accessibility requirements. Aesthetic primarily applies to the views of the sights and the direct features around it. Environmental mainly involves our interaction with the nature around us and finding ways to create as small of an environmental footprint as possible.

Sun

Being able to maximize efficiency in our designs concepts will not only improve the comfort of the inhabitants but also impact cost. One of the main examples of this is the idea to utilize with the sun as a light source, as well as a heating element. Ways we can do this is by orienting the building facing north and south to use the sunlight moving from east to west. By doing this in conjunction with smart window placement we can allow the sun to heat the home/building. we can also utilize the sun to power solar panels on roofs to produce electricity. By implementing this idea we are able to lower the monthly expense of electricity further with solar energy.  

Foundations

Once the position of the site has been located we not have to consider the type of foundation we plan on using. The purpose of the building is ultimately what dictates what our approach. in the residential setting we find ourselves being able to build on a foundation like slab-on-grade, crawlspaces and basements. Where as large structures like skyscrapers or bridges typically find themselves utilizing caissons and piles to support the structure. the overall function of the foundation is to effectively disperse the weight of the structure to the earth beneath it. This is very important in an architects field because structurally everything is being held up by the foundation. This works hand and hand with the the site location because there is risk of possible differential settlement which could shift foundations into uneven positions due to the soil displacement.

Walls

Building on what we learned about foundations we see that the walls are build directly onto the foundation and those walls are classified as load bearing or non-load bearing. As the name suggests, the load bearing walls are intended to further disperse the weight of the superstructure down to the foundation. non-load bearing walls are often utilized in other areas of the building, more intentionally used to create a space or other non-structural functions. In terms of weight distribution, architects aren't limited to only walls, we also have tools like columns and beams to help with this. This allows for more options which can add unique ideas and opens the door to other creative designs.

Exterior

The exterior finishes of the building also very important because that is the part of the building that is going to be the most effected by the elements. Seeing as the exterior is the most susceptible to damage it is also essential to ensuring those elements don't make their way into the building. Cladding come in many different options, from wood, synthetic materials, stone, stucco etc. 

Roof

In the sense of the interior designer, they do not dictate how the structure of the roof is achieved; however, they do have a say of the finish and the shape seeing as it directly impacts interior spaces. The material used to create the roof also varies from metal, wood and concrete. Structure wise the architect has many options as to how the roof actually gets built.

Sustainable sites

In our PowerPoint this week, we were introduced to the idea of a brownfield. These brownfields are locations that are highly contaminated, an example could be a dump or an old torn down gas stations and old factories. There is a preference by LEED to build on sites like this to repurpose undesirable land. LEED sets their rankings based on how sustainable and self sufficient the building is. It is the responsibility of the designer and architect to work in conjunction to find effective ways to be sustainable. Examples of this consist of integrated heating and cooling systems similar to HAWAC on campus. Meeting those set standards improve the overall score of the building which impacts grants received from LEED and doners. The pursuit of sustainability should be taken seriously seeing as it can not only aid in the preservation of the surrounding environment but also impacts the cost to maintain the building as well.

The Harm A. Weber Academic Center

(HAWAC)

The Harm A Weber Academic Center is a great example of a sustainable building. HAWAC is a LEED Gold ranking for its capability to function entirely on 47% of the energy of a conventional building. The ways they achieved this is through the use of a hybrid  natural ventilation system. How they did this is due to the majority of the building being constructed by concrete for its ability to retain both heat and coolness. The ventilation system utilizes the fact that cool air sits near the basement and through a series of well placed vents the building is capable of cooling itself. This method is called the stack effect and it takes advantage of the idea that heat rises and as hot air leave through the roof, it creates a vacuum effect that effectively pulls the cool air through the building. HAWAC also utilized photovoltaic energy though the use of solar panels as a source of electricity. An important idea to remember is that the sun can also be utilized as a free and resourceful way to also influence heating, cooling and lighting of the structure. Seeing as the building is already producing electricity through solar panels, they also save significantly by the implementation of glass. The glass allows the sunlight to shine into the structure and provide free natural lighting as opposed to having to use electricity to power the lighting. Overall I find myself to be impressed by the attention to detail that goes into creating a sustainable building

Week 4 -

Structural systems

In this weeks lesson we begin to build on the concept of structures and the different types of options we as architects and designers art going to be exposed to. Our choices as designers greatly impact the how the buildings we design are viewed be its inhabitants and those simply passing by. The key to all of this is finding a material that fits our desired look but also upholds its structural integrity as its implemented into our site. This can pose as an obstacle in our creative process; different materials have different strengths and weaknesses that we must utilize to efficiently and aesthetically fit our plan

Concrete

We learned in this chapter that concrete is a commonly used material when making buildings for its compressive capabilities and it provides a form of heat and cooling benefits like we learned about the HAWAC building last week. Although concrete does have many uses in our field we must also acknowledge the drawbacks and take into considerations the the fullness of its capabilities. What I mean by this is that concrete can be improved beyond what its already good at and in doing so can also make the project cheaper for everybody involved.

Seeing as concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, sand and water, it it susceptible to air pockets that create pours within the slabs. This allows water to seep in and break away pieces that eventually can lead to the integrity of the wall/slab to degrade. how can we mitigate this?

Hycrete

In this weeks reading we are introduced to many alternative building materials. One of these materials that caught my attention was the product Hycrete. the idea around this product is to find a way to make concrete waterproof and not allow water to penetrate into the pours, causing issues and ultimately could lead to costly repairs. The product is focused around a water based material that acts as an oil, which in turn repels water and stops it from causing structural issues. Points of access like plumbing pipes and cracks are less likely to be effected; Hycrete imbeds the efficiency of waterproofing into the concrete itself. By doing this it saves the contractor and homeowner more money because they don't have to pay to repair those issues. This prevents the need for paying a trained professional to come and spray water proofer onto the foundation. It is a cost effective product that that comes with many perks. 

This material comes in the form of an admixture liquid that is poured into the concrete. It is a clever solution to a problem that has been an issue for as long as buildings have been around; that issue being water. Looking from a sustainability a standpoint also, we find that Hycrete is also cradle-to-cradle certified; which gives that extra sense of relief knowing there is no harm to the environment by using this product.

Conclusion

As designers, architects and engineers it is essential to understand our rolls in the project. It is in the best interest of the team to study new alternative ways to make buildings or at least find more effective ways to implement the materials we already widely use. By implementing a product like Hycrete into our structures we are able to find peace knowing that water is not going to impact our designs.