Sustainable architecture
Designing buildings to reduce environmental harm and resource use.
Sustainable architecture aims to minimize buildings' negative environmental impact by enhancing efficiency and reducing material and energy consumption.[1] The concept ensures that current resource use does not adversely affect future society's well-being.[2] The built environment is designed with a deliberate focus on conserving energy and ecology.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Architecture
- Known for
- Minimizing environmental impact through energy efficiency
- passive design
- and reduced material consumption
- Key concern
- Operational and embodied carbon emissions
- Global emissions share
- 38% of total global emissions from construction
- Cement emissions share
- 8% of all emissions
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Passive strategies include the arrangement of rooms, sizing and orientation of windows, and orientation of facades and streets.[3] Of all global emissions, 38% come from construction activities, and cement production contributes 8% of the total.[4] Sustainable architecture primarily aims to make buildings energy-efficient throughout their entire lifespan.[5] To lower energy demands and boost a building's capacity to capture or produce its own power, architects employ a variety of passive and active methods.[5]
To block summer sun while letting in winter light, deciduous trees are frequently placed in front of windows.[6] Sunlight is admitted in winter and excluded in summer through the installation of louvers or light shelves.[6] Solar water heaters operate effectively in all climates, and their energy source—sunlight—costs nothing.[7]
What the research sources say
A 2016 paper by Ragheb, El-Shimy, and Ragheb in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences describes green architecture as a concept of sustainability.[8] A 2014 study by Chen, Yip, and Athienitis investigates the daylighting and thermal performance of open-plan office buildings with fixed and motorized daylight louvers.[9] A 2006 report by Walford states that logistical and practical challenges in replacing critical wind turbine components can make unplanned breakdowns severely affect a project's profitability.[10][11] According to a 2021 review by Ahmed, Khalid, Vaka, and Walvekar in Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, active solar collector systems have a daily hot water output of roughly 80 to 100 gallons.[12][13]
References
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sustainable Architecture and Simulation Modelling", Dublin Institute of Technology; Ragheb, "Green Architecture: A Concept of Sustainability", Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2016, p. 778–787 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Definition of Sustainability and the Impacts of Buildings", www.doerr.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: M. DeKay & G.Z. Brown, Sun Wind & Light, architectural design strategies, 3rd ed. Wiley, 2014; M. Montavon, Optimization of Urban Form by the Evaluation of the Solar Potential, EPFL, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How can we reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint?", www.weforum.org, 2021-07-13; "Reducing embodied carbon in new construction | McKinsey"; "Concrete must be abandoned by architects in fight against climate change", 20 September 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: M. DeKay & G.Z. Brown, Sun Wind & Light, architectural design strategies, 3rd ed. Wiley, 2014; Bielek, "Green Building – Towards Sustainable Architecture", Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2016, p. 751–760 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Effects of Fixed and Motorized Window Louvers on the Daylighting and Thermal Performance of Open-Plan Office Buildings", International High Performance Buildings Conference, 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Water Heaters", U.S. Department of Energy (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Amany Ragheb, "Green Architecture: A Concept of Sustainability", Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences (2016), doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.12.075. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
- "Effects of Fixed and Motorized Window Louvers on the Daylighting and Thermal Performance of Open-Plan Office Buildings", International High Performance Buildings Conference, 2014. facts only, no text reused. docs.lib.purdue.edu
- Christopher Walford, "Wind turbine reliability :understanding and minimizing wind turbine operation and maintenance costs.", (2006), doi:10.2172/882048. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walford, "Wind turbine reliability :understanding and minimizing wind turbine operation and maintenance costs.", 2006-03-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Sumair Faisal Ahmed, "Recent progress in solar water heaters and solar collectors: A comprehensive review", Thermal Science and Engineering Progress (2021), doi:10.1016/j.tsep.2021.100981. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
- Wikipedia, "Sustainable architecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Solar Water Heaters", Toolbase.org; Faisal Ahmed, "Recent progress in solar water heaters and solar collectors: A comprehensive review", Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, 2021-10-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Sustainable architecture (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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