Blind spots of sustainability: architecture

Abstract

The building sector has now reached the stage where numerous sustainability codes and practices have been introduced and enforced in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions associated with the built environment. While these efforts have been successful in shifting the industry towards more sustainable practices, they have had limited success in reducing the sector’s total energy consumption and carbon emissions. This paper discusses how the intended purpose of architecture has contributed to this shortfall, and how it has obstructed the potential environmental benefits of emerging building technologies. It is argued that if the fundamental way in which buildings are designed remains unchanged then it is likely that the targets for reducing carbon emissions will not be met, and that an increase in these emissions will occur. The paper also provides insights into how these shortcomings might be mitigated to ensure that future built environments are created and created using truly sustainable concepts as their basis.

Keywords:

• Energy efficiency
• passive architecture
• integrative design
• green building
• building energy simulation
• rebound effect
• carbon emissions

Notes

1. The Bank of America building has an Energy Star score of 50, representing average energy performance [8].

2. In his book Précisions (1930), Le Corbusier states: ‘Every nation builds houses for its own climate. At this time of international interpenetration of scientific techniques, I propose: one single building for all nations and climates, the house with respiration exacte […] I make air at 18 °C and at humidity related to the state of the weather. A fan blows this air through judiciously disposed ducts, and diffusers have been created to prevent droughts’ [12].

3. The rebound effect (or take-back effect) is a term used to describe the extent of energy savings gained through efficiency increases that is taken back by consumers through higher consumption in the form of either longer periods of use or a higher quality of energy service [17].

4. However, recent research by Turner and Soar [19] has revealed that the nest’s temperature closely follows that of the soil, and that there is no evidence to suggest that air is being driven out of the nest. This led both researchers to propose that the whole system acts rather like the human respiratory system, with the termites acting as mobile alveoli, finer tunnels within the mound as the bronchioles, and the chimney at the top as the trachea [20, 21].