Sustainable development and green architecture

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Department of Architecture and urban planning, Engineering faculty Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

Sustainable development and green architecture

Razin A.D., Alhalabi Z.Sh.

PhD in Architecture, Professor Student,

Аннотация

УСТОЙЧИВОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ И БИОКЛИМАТИЧЕСКАЯ АРХИТЕКТУРА

В статье приводится обзор и сравнение возможных архитектурных решений с применением биоклиматических элементов зеленой архитектуры, которые могут смягчить негативные побочные явления глобального потепления.

В статье также изложены проблемы, стоящие перед проектными решениями; эти решения являются приоритетной задачей на текущий момент в связи с важностью формирования архитектурного пространства, которое представляет собой место, где люди живут и взаимодействуют с планетарными процессами.

Ключевые слова: Зеленая (биоклиматическая) архитектура, устойчивое и самодостаточное развитие, энергоэффективность, окружающей среды.

Abstract

bioclimatic green architecture building

Razin A.D.1, Alhalabi Z.Sh.2

1PhD in Architecture, Professor, 2ORCID: 0000-0003-3222-7843, Postgraduate Student, Department of Architecture and urban planning, Engineering faculty Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GREEN ARCHITECTURE

As global environmental problems are increasing alongside the continuous of global warming, new solutions are arising. This article reviews the current situation and compares the possible solutions that can help with reducing the side effects of global warming when it comes to architecture. Additionally, it outlines the problems and challenges facing these solutions; as the importance of solving them is a high priority at the current moment due to the importance of the architectural space as it represents the way people live on this planet and interacts with it.

Keywords: Green, architecture, sustainable, energy efficiency, environment, self-sufficient.

Introduction

Architecture has a vital role when it comes to human function, productivity, and overall happiness. It provides the environment, in which a person lives, learns, explores and contributes to society. Therefore, it is the base from which all things come to life and existence. As time passes, things change which in its turn causes architectural designs to take new shifts in order to provide better life quality that exploits technology allowing people to reach their full potential.

In the last few decades, both natural and artificial changes have started to escalate faster than before. Starting with population exponential growth, which caused energy consumption to rise 80 times, and economic output 68 times [1, P.10]; many other changes took place, such as, climate change, hi-tech technology, cultural and religious shifts etc.

All these factors and many more, redirect and demand new standers for architectural designs. One of the most important ones is self-sufficient, sustainable, green designs. These standers are no longer a privilege to a building; they are a main demand if we wish to preserve life on Earth in the future, as both; the process of building and using a construction affect the environment significantly.

In this article, the differences and similarities between sustainable and green will be discussed and briefly explained alongside some examples followed by tackling the current and future state of architecture.

The aim of this article is to examine and analyze the differences and similarities between sustainable solutions and green designs; and to indicate how to determine which solution is more suitable to apply in different cases, what kind of challenges face the application of these solutions, and how to overcome them.

1. Understanding the Difference: Green vs. Sustainable

Sustainable and green are widely misused concepts they are usually used interchangeably. However, there is a difference between both. According to Cambridge dictionary a green building is designed in a way that protects the natural environment by using green energy from renewable resources [2]. On the other hand, it defines a sustainable as causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time [3].

Thus, the concept of sustainable is far broader than the concept of green, hence, all sustainable designs are green; however, not all green designs are sustainable. In order to understand this more clearly few main points will be compared (table 1).

Table 1 A comparison between Green and Sustainable designs

Building Materials: Green designs tend to focus on how the material fits in the environmental surrounding, how much energy was wasted in order to get the material and produce it (the less the better); what ingredients are used in the process; construction waste management, etc. While on the other hand, Sustainable buildings imply that the material used in a certain structure is local and did not contribute to energy waste to either produce or relocate to the structure site. Not to mention that in some cases raw material is preferable. Not to mention the life-Cycle of the material and its impact on the surrounding environment [4, p.38].

Water Efficiency: The importance of water management is not to be neglected, due to the fact that only 1% of water on Earth is drinkable [5, p.43]. The main difference when it comes to water efficiency is rain water collection and recycling. While green designs aim to reduce and control water waste, sustainable solutions add to that and provides a certain structure with other natural sources of water that do not require an energy waste to get to the building i.e. Water recycling, rain water collection, etc.

Indoor Environment Quality: It is noticed that both set high standards for air quality control, thermal comfort, acoustic performance, using daylight in the morning and energy efficient lights without lowering the light standards. However, sustainable solutions fixate on using renewable energy resources in the process of providing all these standards.

Energy Performance: It is very important to note that both green and sustainable aim to create a fossil fuel free energy, and to apply energy metering in order to control energy waste. Sustainable buildings take a further step into providing an almost complete energy production without using other sources.

2. Discussion

After this brief compassion, it is clear that sustainable buildings are far more eco-friendly than green designs. However, due to our current resources sustainable is not always applicable unlike green designs and solutions.

As global warming continues to change our planet, we must slow the process in every way possible; hence, all construction must be green with no exceptions.

However, even though sustainable is preferable, it might be challenging for the time being. In order to determine whether sustainable is applicable or not there are certain factors to consider: (i). Local material resources availability (ii). Cultivation possibility: weather, soil, occupant of the space, etc. (iii). Waste management possibilities. (iii) The size of the building, its location and the number of occupants.

Nevertheless, problems frequently face the application of both solutions; one of which is the economical factor as it plays a huge role when constructing a building, as the current methods and energy delivery are much more affordable and reduce the initial cost of certain construction therefore it is preferable even though on the long run green designs and sustainable solutions are cost-efficient. One of the other problems is social acceptance; as it is relatively a new concept, investors tend to overlook these options, not to mention the low rate of qualified professionals that can execute and deliver a project of these properties.

To overcome some of the many challenges professionals must become qualified and resources must become available in each region locally. This can be done by adding obligatory credits in universities that teach and prepare professionals; an encouragement to conduct a study in each region to determine the sources of renewable energy; convert importers into producers of local building materials; encouraging the application of green solutions even in already existing structures.

A 25-year plan might help with the transformation process; in the next 10 years all professionals must become qualified and resources must be determined; in the following 5 years, all existing and new structures must be green; and the last 10 years are dedicated to sustainability with the aim of building more sustainable buildings than green.

Conclusion

To sum up, architecture has surpassed the phase of objects and entered a new phase in which it interacts with those who occupy a certain structure; it is a living organism through which people complete cycles without harming the Eco-system. High-technology can be employed in order to achieve high-quality lives enveloped in structures that provide absolute comfort including psychosomatic comfort which has been neglected in the past few decades.

References

1. Henderson H. Becoming a Green Building Professional / Holley Henderson, Anthony D. Cortese - John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012 - P.10.

2. Cambridge Business English Dictionary // Cambridge University Press.

3. Oxford Dictionary // Cambridge University Press, 2017.

4. Berardi U. Moving to Sustainable Buildings: Paths to Adopt Green Innovations in Developed Countries / Umberto Berardi - Versita , 2013 - P. 35.

5. Clark W. Sustainable Communities Design Handbook: Green Engineering, Architecture, and Technology / Woodrow Clark - Elsevier, 2010 - P. 43.

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