sustainable architecture--martina keitsch editorial

EditorialSustainable Architecture, Design and Housing

Martina Keitsch*Department of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science

and Technology, Kolbjrn Heies vei 2b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway

ABSTRACTThis editorial article for the special issue of Sustainable Development Sustainable architec-ture, design and housing introduces the main topics and reviews the following ninearticles. The aim of the special issue is to discuss key concepts, methods, applicationsand lessons learned in sustainable architecture, design and housing. Sustainable architec-ture challenges new and ingenious architectural design at various levels. Examples are thefollowing. (1) Minimizing the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancingefciency and moderating the use of materials, energy and development space. (2) Devel-oping measures to relate form and adapt the design to the site, the region and theclimate. (3) Establishing a harmonious, long lasting relationship between the inhabitantsand their surroundings by addressing the essence of good form-giving (Abidin et al.,2008). In summary, sustainable architecture shall be well built, easy to use and beautiful.The selected articles highlight special aspects of sustainability in architecture, design andhousing, either due to their novel theoretical contributions or in relation to tools, mea-surements and strategies. A main research objective on sustainable design is to promoteunderstanding for the particular problems that architects and designers face and todiscuss solutions to solve them. This can in turn also be described as the relevance ofsustainable design research for the overarching sustainable development debate. Sustain-able design is dynamic and comprises both normative, strategic, designerly and technicalaspects (Cross, 2010). Three areas are thematically highlighted in this special issue.

1. Overarching conception of sustainable architecture and design and their impact on asustainable development.

2. Methodologies and tools and their applications to sustainable design.3. Policy and strategy development to assess and implement sustainable design.

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Keywords: design and sustainability; theoretical and practical challenges in design; tools and strategies; contribution to the sustain-

able development debate

*Correspondence to: Martina Keitsch, Department of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Norwegian University ofScience and Technology, Kolbjrn Heies vei 2b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Sustainable DevelopmentSust. Dev. 20, 141145 (2012)Published online in Wiley Online Library(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sd.1530

Introduction

DURING THE LAST 20YEARS THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN COMMUNITY HAS ESTABLISHED A CONSENSUS THATsustainable development presents a vital topic in predicting and implementing future trends, needs, andproduction and consumption patterns. Yet, what is relevant sustainability knowledge for these disciplinesis a frequent subject of debate. Is tool based know-how on a life-cycle assessment, material-ow analysisand eco-design level sufcient, or are normative considerations critical too? How and to what degree should practicingarchitects and designers deal with different knowledge types (know-what, know-how and know-why), and in what formdo these support or contradict design practice and commercial interests?

Even if ubiquitous approaches to sustainability in architecture and design still focus primarily on environmentalissues, ignoring contextual aspects surrounding sustainable designing (Williamson et al., 2003), the call to examinepractices and methods as well as values and norms (McLennan, 2004) is growing louder and is accompanied by acall for interdisciplinary cooperation to meet the complexity of problems connected to a global sustainabledevelopment.

In opposition to the most common view of sustainable architecture as a product or specic attributesof buildings, an increasing number of concepts start to encompass triple bottom line criteria. If sustainablearchitecture is seen in conjunction with social and cultural conditions, a revised architecture and design meth-odology is required, as, e.g., Maxman emphasizes: Sustainable architecture isnt a prescription. Its an approach,an attitude. It shouldnt really even have a label. It should just be architecture (Maxman, 1993, in Williamsonet al., 2003, p. 7).

The above quotes illustrate that the way sustainability is framed in the architecture and design disciplinesdetermines the issues that are considered important: technology xes, user involvement or cultural andsocial interaction. Different implementation levels of sustainability design can be illustrated as shownin Figure 1.

Besides ecological advantages, architecture and design can work as a catalyst for the advancement of socialsustainability and social inclusion. Recent research on design and life quality of older people, e.g. from theWISE group(Well-Being in Sustainable Environment) at the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, shows that a holistic

Figure 1. Levels of sustainability in design (Keitsch, 2011)

142 M. Keitsch

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Sust. Dev. 20, 141145 (2012)DOI: 10.1002/sd

approach in design, considering the social, economic and ecological dimensions of solutions, maximizes the success offuture developments (Mitchell and Burton, 2006). An approach that combines ndings from empirical and theoreticalresearch and from applied and basic science to enhance professional competence, critical thinking and social respon-sibility among scholars and practitioners should be cultivated to inuence the next generation of sustainable architec-ture and design. The future of design depends on people who are capable of working in multidisciplinary teams, andare aware of the context and systems within which design interacts. Augmented insights into responsible, acceptableand comprehensive design strategies will then be the pursuit of paths of innovation for products, services and struc-tures for a sustainable society, or, to paraphrase Brundtland, Sustainable design is taking all ecological, social and eco-nomic concerns into account in product and service systems, meeting the needs of the present without compromisingthe ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Keitsch, 2011).

Contents of the Special Issue

This special issue hopes to turn the spotlight on these directions by presenting a wide-ranging spectrum of topicsunder the overarching umbrella of sustainability in architecture, design and housing. The issue, which presentsnine peer-reviewed and accepted articles, focuses on the promotion of new concepts, approaches and emergingtrends leading to innovative theories in sustainable architecture and design.

The articles in this special issue offer a view of sustainable architecture and design as a multi-perspectiveendeavor and are grouped two sections:

Section 1, Concepts and theoriesSection 2, Tools and applications.

The rst article of the rst section, Sustainability from a performance-oriented architecture perspective alternativeapproaches to questions regarding the sustainability of the built environment, by Hensel, introduces and discussesconcepts and approaches in architectural design and construction that are rooted in a systems approach. Theconnection between the systems approach and sustainable design and architecture is recent, and very promising,since it allows addressing the structural and methodological complexity of sustainability issues in an orderly way.The article pinpoints the need to allow for more complete and therefore more complex problem denitions, whiletaking longer-term perspectives into consideration. A performance-oriented architecture perspective, which operateson dynamic interactions between local ecosystems (including humans), is introduced as an opportunity for overcomingthe prevailing tendency of considering buildings as discrete objects and processes and for rethinking approachestowards sustainability from an auxiliarity perspective. Auxiliarity in architecture includes human-made, human-inuenced and natural conditions simultaneously and systematically. As the author states, architecture always engagesin this way whether the architect has considered this or not. However, the article emphasizes and illustrates with thehelp of examples that placing these realizations at the very core of design considerations may constitute a promisingway towards architectural sustainability.

The second article, Invention and foresight in sustainable design and architecture how to promote a seeminglyimpossible, but still crucial, radical change, by Edeholt and Skodvin, locates design in a global context, asking howdesign research may mitigate the effects of phenomena such as climate change, environmental catastrophes andresource scarcity. As a point of departure, it briey discusses some characteristic features of science, architectureand design as domains of society. The intention is to establish a creative analytical eld of tensions, with comple-mentary actors, while the article especially focuses on possible contributions from the domain of design. The studyis primarily based on a master course in design with the title Shaping futures, where students were required todevelop plausible sustainability scenarios for the end of the 21st century.

In the third article, Sustainable cities: a scale and process allowing design science to supersede analytical science,Levine presents a thorough overview, based on economical science, explaining why mere resource efciency (or reduc-tion in un-sustainability) will not solve the environmental crisis and might even be counterproductive when aiming forthe kind of sustainability the world needs urgently. The article introduces the paradigm of design science for sustainable

143Some general thoughts on Sustainable Architecture, Design and Housing


development as an alternativemodel, which presents a qualitatively different epistemology in which the emergent effectsof throughput growth and social rebound are collectively negotiated within a sustainable area budget. Multiple-alternativescenario building within this budget outlines a process within which emergent properties are negotiated relative to theresilience of social and ecological systems. From the authors point of view, the design science for sustainable develop-ment model provides the crucial outlines for the negotiation of a common future inscribed within ecological limits.

Continuing with the conceptual appraisals of sustainability in architecture and design, Keitsch presents withSustainable design: a brief history of its main concepts an article that discusses main sustainable design concepts froma historical and systematic perspective and analyses them related to three criteria: ethics, technology xes and social inter-action. These criteria are considered as main motivators for research and theory development in sustainable design. Theconcepts Papaneks socially and ecologically responsible design, the design for the environment approach andManzinissustainable everyday philosophy provide main ideas in sustainable design and within the wider debate on sustainabledevelopment. The article further proposes how conceptualization in sustainable design could proceed, moving from alopsidedweighting of the criteria towards a balanced one, tomeet the complexity of sustainability issues in present society.

The second section, Sustainable design tools and applications, starts with an introduction to biomimicry andprovides a starting point for industrial designers to work with this area of sustainable design. The authors, Boks andVolstad, argue that biomimicry can be seen as a supplement to the designers existing toolkit, when used with thegoal to nd a solution. One reason for looking at biomimicry from an industrial design point of view is becausemany of the disciplines from which industrial design incorporate knowledge, for example architecture, materialsscience and mechanical and structural engineering, have used biomimicry to generate valuable solutions. However,the authors argue that biomimicry should not be used bombastically as if only nature can provide the panacea for all(sustainable) design challenges. Based on this argument, another goal of the article is to critically review literatureon the discussion of whether biomimicry should be regarded as a tool for sustainable product design per se, or as ageneral tool for design inspiration. The article concludes with the presentation and evaluation of a biomimicry-basedinspiration tool in the form of a card deck, displaying categorized sources of inspiration for industrial designers.

The sixth article, authored by Zhu, Zhao and Geng, is titled Mediation effects of environmental cooperation onthe relationship between sustainable design and performance improvement among Chinese apartment developers.Zhu et al. develop a conceptual model that proposes that cooperation with construction stakeholders and customersis a mediator, necessary for apartment developers to realize environmental, economic and even competitive perfor-mance improvement through sustainable design practices. The article examines the current practice of sustainabledesign, cooperation with construction stakeholders and customers as well as related performance improvementamong Chinese apartment developers based on an analysis of 92 questionnaires conducted by the authors. Themediation effects are further analyzed through hierarchical regression analysis. Policy implications are discussedto provide detailed suggestions on improving the cooperation between Chinese apartment developers and theirconstruction stakeholders/customers. Zhu et al. propose that cooperation can help apartment developers to improveenvironmental, competitive and economic performance through sustainable design practices.

The seventh article, An overview of Chinese green building standards, authored by Geng, Dong and Xue,addresses Chinas challenge of rapid urbanization and industrialization, leading to a tremendous demand fornew buildings and the corresponding energy consumption. The authors claim that the design of a national standardon green buildings is an effective way to respond to these challenges and point out that China has made signicantprogress toward developing national green building standards. The article introduces Chinas green building effortsand discusses them in detail with various provisions of the national indicator system. The national standard is thencompared with other countries green building standards. The comparison indicates benets to be gained andchallenges to bemet, such as lack of indicators on climate change, lack of region-specic indicators, lack of quantitativeindicators, higher costs for receiving certication and failure to apply innovative green technologies. Thus, the articlesuggests that a substantive revision is needed.

The eighth article, Utilizing societal engagement as a vehicle for enhancing the image and sustainability of theconstruction industry by Wong, Kumaraswamy, Mahesh and Ng, presents a case of the construction industry inHong Kong. It discusses difculties in this industry such as encountering uncertain workload, struggles withworkforce renewal and the threat of ultimately endangering its own sustainability, which jeopardizes not only thelong-term health of the industry, but also the sustainable development of the citys infrastructures. Hong Kong, amodern mega-city, is facing these problems, and within this context the article examines the role and impact of

144 M. Keitsch


societal engagement in infrastructure projects. The notion of utilizing societal engagement as a vehicle for enhancingthe image and sustainability of the construction industry, thereby also improving the ability to attract new entrants,is proposed in the article. It is also suggested that the construction industrys interaction with the public should bea continuous process on a daily basis through a professional workforce that promotes safety, environmentalresponsibility and caring for the needs of society.

Skjerven authored the nal article of this special issue, titled The concept of Scandinavian design: a potential toolin the development of a culturally sustainable China, which has a focus on bilateral cooperation through design.Skjerven points out that China is currently undergoing rapid changes in the form of vast scale industrialization,thereby abandoning traditional ways of production and living. The article discusses how cultural traditions ofdesigning products can be re-established and utilized as an innovative force in current production routines, therebysecuring a coherence with the past and the development of a culturally sustainable and yet modern China. Theassertion of this author is that interpretations of Scandinavian design can contribute to such a development. Thearticle presents a project of historical research on the concept of Scandinavian design and illustrates how it mightbe used by way of two case studies, one in business and the other in the eld of product design education. Thendings of the project have so far shown that the rather stereotypical conception of what characterizes Scandinaviandesign has a potential for contributing to product design approaches and market communication that stimulatecultural sustainability, thereby paving the way for sustainability in general.

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the authors of the nine articlespresented in this special issue, to the reviewers for their valuable feedback and comments and to SustainableDevelopment journal for inviting me to be the guest editor of this issue.

References

Abidin SA, Sigurjonsson J, Liem A, Keitsch M. 2008. On the role of form-giving in design. New Perspectives in Design Education Proceedingof the 10th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education. Universitat Politecnica de Catalnya: Barcelona; 1, 365370.

Cross N. 2010. Designerly Ways of Knowing. Springer: London.Keitsch M. 2011. Sustainable Product Design Background, Tools and Solutions, inaugural lecture 18 March, Department for Product Design,

Norwegian University of Science and Technology.Maxman S. 1993. Shaking the Rafters, Earthewatch (July/Aug. 1993): page 11.McLennan J. 2004. The Philosophy of Sustainable Design. Ecotone: Kansas City, MO.Mitchell L, Burton E. 2006. Neighbourhoods for life: designing dementia-friendly outdoor environments. Quality in Ageing Policy, Practice and

Research, special edition: The EQUAL Initiative, 7(1): 2633.Williamson TJ, Radford A, Bennetts H. 2003. Understanding Sustainable Architecture. Spon: London.

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sustainable architecture--martina keitsch editorial

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