Sustainable Architect - Making the World a Better Place to Live, One Structure at a Time

We hear the phrase sustainable architecture thrown around, but what is it? What are we sustaining? Is "GREEN" related? What are the benefits of it? What does a sustainable architect do? I wish the answer was simple, and indeed it is.

Sustainable means to build or develop in a way that will let us keep doing it for a long period of time without adverse effects. If we overuse a material that is in short supply, it could cause us irreparable problems. For example, if our construction is heavily dependent on materials that use large amounts of water in their manufacturing and are being made in a region with a short supply of water, that could be a problem. If we design a tropical garden that requires constant and large amounts of water for it's upkeep in a desert environment, that could also be a big problem.

Now that we have an ideal of what the problems are, lets take a look at how we can adjust the way we do things to be sustainable. Sustainable is not a concept that deals with individual aspects, but rather in a holistic way. If it makes common sense, it is generally sustainable. If you live in an area where masonry products are readily produced and available from local resources, it would probably make sense to use it in construction. It would also make sense to use local plants and groundcover materials instead of having them transported from China to the US. It would also make sense to use the local climate to your advantage. If you live in a cold climate, then maximizing natural solar heating through light would make sense. If you live in a very hot environment, then shading from hot sunlight would make sense to use in order to cool the structure and provide comfort and energy savings.

Sustainable also involves urban planning. Ask yourself: Would it make more sense to build a structure in a already developed area with existing roads and utilities, or perhaps even re-use an existing structure of start from scratch? Certainly most people with a functioning brain would say that starting with something is better then starting with nothing, yet we commonly see communities of so called "cookie cutter" homes which are utterly artificial and lifeless. If the development would focus on making the best with what already exists, re-using or adapting existing structures and neighborhoods, certainly the results would be amazing.

Abhay is a young entrepreneur architect with a passion for logical sustainable architecture. He would consider himself a sustainable architect, so the articles you'll read will be about sustainability. The filter that will always be used is: does it make sense? You'll find out that being sustainable absolutely does make financial sense.

http://sustainablearchitect.org/sustainable-architect/sustainable-architecture-%E2%80%93-what-is-it
http://sustainablearchitect.org/

Original article

Sustainable architect - make the world a place better to live, a Structure at a time

We hear thrown around expression, but what is sustainable architecture - this? What we support us? Is "Green" linked? What are the benefits of it? What does a sustainable architect do? I wish the answer was simple, and in fact it is.

Sustainable means build or develop in a way that will let us continue to make it during a long period of time without adverse effects. If we abuse a material that is insufficient, could cause us irreparable problems. For example, if our construction is heavily dependent on which uses large quantities of water in their manufacturing and materials is made in an area with a shortage of water, which may be a problem. If we design a tropical garden which requires a constants and large quantities of water for its maintenance in a desert environment, which could also be a big problem.

Now that we have an ideal of what are the problems, lets take a look at how we can adjust the way in which we be sustainable. Sustainable is not a concept dealing with individual aspects, but rather in a holistic manner. If it's common sense, it is generally sustainable. If you live in a region where masonry products are easily produced and available from local resources, it would probably make sense to use in the construction. It also makes sense to use local plants and materials cover instead of having their transported from China to the United States. It also makes sense to use the local climate to your advantage. If you live in a cold climate, and natural solar heating maximization through light would make sense. If you live in a very hot environment, then the hot rays of the sun shading would be logical to use to cool the structure and comfort and energy savings.

Sustainable also involves urban planning. Ask yourself the question: would it make more sense to build a structure in an area already developed with existing roads and utilities, or perhaps even to reuse an existing structure to start from scratch? Certainly most of the people with a brain works would say that something is better then to start from nothing, and yet often see us communities called houses "cookie cutter" which are completely artificial and without life. If the development would be better to do with what already exists, by reusing or adapting existing structures and areas, certainly the results would be incredible.

Abhay is an architect of a young entrepreneur with a passion for logical sustainable architecture. It would consider him a sustainable architect, so articles that you will read will be on sustainability. The filter that will always be used is: is it meaningful? You will discover that being absolutely sustainable makes financial sense.

http://sustainablearchitect.org/sustainable-architect/sustainable-architecture-%E2%80%93-what-is-it
http://sustainablearchitect.org/

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