studioTEN architects

ECOLOGY: (currently called sustainability)

THE MOST EXTENSIVE OF HUMAN ENDEAVORS:

To put some things in perspective, it needs to be realized that our built environment is the most expensive human endeavor ever undertaken. It out-paces it's nearest two competitors, agriculture and military, buy exponential factors.

SUSTAINABILITY- THE "S" WORD:

We feel the definition of 'sustainability' need to be revisited, just as to refresh our perspective. Sustainable design, also referred to as "green design", "eco-design", or "design for environment", is the art of designing physical objects to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. It ranges from the microcosm, of designing small objects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm of designing buildings, cities, and the earth's physical surface. It is a growing trend within the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, industrial design, interior design, and industrial design.

The essential aim of sustainable design is to produce places, products and services in a way that reduces use of non-renewable resources, minimizes environmental impact, and relates people with the natural environment. Sustainable design is often viewed as a necessary tool for achieving sustainability. It is related to the more heavy-industry-focused fields of industrial ecology and green chemistry sharing tools such as life cycle assessment and life cycle energy analysis to judge the environmental impact or "greenness" of various design choices.

Sustainable design is a reaction to the global "environmental crisis", i.e., rapid growth of economic activity and human population, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. Proponents of sustainable design believe that the crisis is in large part caused by conventional design and industrial holly practices, which disregard the risks and environmental impacts associated with goods and services. Green design is considered a means of reducing or eliminating these impacts while maintaining quality of life by using careful assessment and clever design to substitute less harmful products and processes for conventional ones.

In short, sustainability is an approach that is nurtured a stereoscopic, global attitude. It is not something for a specialist, but rather a generalist. The strategies, however, are where you need a specialist – many specialists.

CONSILIANCE:

Edward O. Wilson's 1998 book, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, revisited the notion of the interrelation of all knowledge and systems - one effects the other. It is the ultimate concept of basic causation events or efforts and the resultant effects. Adopting this as a design approach opens many doors, and provides a working attitudinal mechanism for sustainability and integrated designs.

THE "S" WORD:

We are somewhat amazed at the recent popularity of the word 'sustainability'. It seems to be seen as a new concept, something 'extra' the field of design is having to adopt because of some newly discovered conditions. We are likewise amazed at some recent conferences we have attended on 'sustainability', where many feel they have learned many new things – we are happy that learning has occurred, but we often surprised at the slow uptake by design professionals. In our eyes, we have known about the price to pay for industrial and technological advancement, both socially as well as ecologically, since we read Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, The Jungle, in high school. How many of us remember the 1970's TV commercial featuring tears in the eyes of Iron Eye's Cody as he surveys once-pristine rivers and fields that are now polluted? How many of have us considered the economic value of a 300-500 year buildings that our grandparents built rather than the 30 and 50 year buildings we are asked to build today – a build that lasts only 50 years, and then ends up on the landfill? In short, the cues and principles for sustainable design have been around for a long time – it is just a matter of who has adopted sustainability as an attitude that can be put into holistic practice.

We are also amazed because we have been designing buildings this way for years, long before the “S” word become a part of our cultural vocabulary. We routinely review a project after it is already designed relative to a LEED checklist and find that it is certified without any special efforts. We have even check much older buildings relative to the LEED checklist with the same results.

We simply see sustainability as building like our grandparents built – to last, to be efficient, and to be beautiful for generations to appreciate.

SELECTED EVIDENCE:

Irving Elementary School – Pueblo School District 60, Pueblo, Colorado:

• Geothermal Ground Loop System, cutting the utility bills by 1/3

• On-site water retention with directional water to vegetation areas

• Operable windows with cross-ventilation through courtyards

• Solar orientations for decreased solar gain and increased day-lighting

• Sun-shading through metal sunscreens and calculated overhangs, building orientation

• Day-lighting through interior courtyards, glazed hallways, and classrooms

Glenwood Springs High School – Roaring Fork School District, Glenwood Springs, Colorado:

• Ice Storage Air Conditioning System

• On-site water retention with directional water to vegetation areas

• On-site water quality prior to discharge to public storm-water system

• Solar orientations for decreased solar gain and increased delighting

• Sun-shading through metal sunscreens and calculated overhangs, building orientation

• Day-lighting through interior courtyards, glazed hallways, and classrooms

Stapleton High School, Denver Public School District, Denver, Colorado (competition):

• Grass Root System

• Geothermal Ground Loop System

• On-site water retention with directional water to vegetation areas

• On-site water quality prior to discharge to public storm-water system

• Solar orientations for decreased solar gain and increased delighting

• Sun-shading through metal sunscreens and calculated overhangs, building orientation

• Day-lighting through interior courtyards, glazed hallways, and classrooms

More Information

1327 N. Cascade Avenue Colorado Springs, CO 80903 719.578.5799 info@studiotenarchitects.com Copyright 2007