论文部分内容阅读
Every day, people are increasingly realizing the choices they make in their everyday lives, affect the people and the environment around them. They are buying local, organic food to reduce the use of pesticides, support their local community, and reduce the fuel costs associated with producing what they eat. They are choosing to ride their bike or take the bus instead of driving a car. At the forefront of many of these changes, the building industry needs to take the lead. We are seeing a push to create buildings and spaces that do not require external energy to heat, cool or power them. There are efforts to reduce the use of materials that have a high embodied energy and to increase the number of recycled/reused and recyclable/reusable materials. When looking at sustainability as it applies to architecture, there are several aspects of a building that are important to consider: atmosphere, longevity, energy, interface and equity. When creating architecture with a conscious effort towards improving sustainability, one must take into account the way a building interacts with its surroundings. How will people connect with their neighbors, their backyard, the streets? A building that interfaces well with its surroundings is one that is more useful and likely to be appreciated for longer. Also of importance is how the building affects the immediate environment, i.e. what plants and animals are being displaced, how much of the local topography will be changed, will weather systems be significantly impacted by the new building? Finally, an aspect of sustainability that is often overlooked is that of equity. Too often money is the solution to unsustainable situations. However if technology and design are too expensive for the average person, they can never be sustainable because they won’t be widely adopted. Of course one can argue that the true costs are often hidden, but this argument does little to encourage adoption. If sustainable architecture is ever to make a significant impact, it must be affordable to the masses.