What is Sustainable Architecture as First Principles?
In our current built environment, the process of extracting materials to be designed into buildings and infrastructure, as well as the demolition as waste, is extractive and linear. In a truly sustainable architectural world, buildings are a node that gives back more than they consume.
Sustainable architecture is the discipline of designing and constructing buildings that operate within the ecological boundaries of the world. It considers the entire lifecycle of a building, from material extraction and construction, through operation to adaptation, and eventually deconstruction. It is a multi discipline activity to minimize resource consumption, carbon emissions, and ecological harm at every stage. It is also a revised conceptualization of architecture in response to countless modern concerns about the effects of human activity. In conclusion, sustainable architecture redefines how the built environment relates to natural systems in addressing climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss.
Sustainable architecture is fundamentally built on three principles :
- Reduce embodied and operational carbon
- Circulate materials and resources at their highest value
- Regenerate the natural systems that the built environment has inhabited
It is crucial for the long-term vitality of civilization, as the Industrial Revolution has shown otherwise. The discipline is supported by ecomodernism’s philosophy and approach, as it must be achieved through intense cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Written by
Sustainable Architecture Society
Building a world that is created on a truly sustainable architecture.