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| http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/steel/skyscraper_chicago2.html |
Site cannot be changed, it is the setting or location and is in most cases eternal. Structure is the load bearing elements and this is the part of the building that if you want to follow a sustainability ideal, should be the element that lasts at least 100 years. That way it saves you money and the environment, and lots of it, in the long run. And this is something we don't do much in Australia, well in relation to residential architecture. We build the cheapest result, with the cheapest material, and while it is renewable, it rots, gets eaten, and falls down quickly, in fact 25 years is the expected lifespan. The skin, as suggested by brand, is replaced every 20 years or so, but if we were to design it to last, to age gracefully, and more importantly, work well than the need to replace at all becomes unnecessary.
Now services, there is not much we can do in the way of making the services last longer other than use quality components that have a long, efficient life. But when it is time to change I take the words of Wheeler and say, "Loose fit, Long life". We leave space and access for the services to be easily replaced, and in doing so, extend the life of the building until it is going to fall down or until the market dictates replacement.
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| http://www.theurbn.com/2012/04/sustainable-retreat/ |
Now space plan and stuff is doomed. All that stuff is replaced every week > every few years so what can we do??
Well we can use green products and use them in such a way as to be reusable, and up-cycle-able. A cradle to cradle approach. This not only saves money, but the environment as well.
This is the main problem with green-washing I have; if you say its green people use it, but sustainability is more than just green products, its using any product or products regardless of there "green-ness" to make a intervention that will last a lifetime or more, rather than sound green and cost you endless amounts of money to heat and cool, but as long as it uses "renewable timber framing" its all great.
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| http://onlyinnewmexico.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/green-wash.html |
So good design is sustainable, not for the products, but for the design.
And lets not forget what the word means for a second; Sustainable, the ability to sustain.
We can't sustain the house and land, brick and tile scourges any longer, not just for the green environments sake, but for my visual environments sake.
Reference:
Brand, S., 1997. Shearing Layers, in How buildings learn : what happens after they’re built, London: Phoenix Illustrated. pp12-23
Wheeler, T., 2012. Seven sensible sayings for green interiors, in Artichoke 39, Melbourne: Architectural Media Pty, Ltd. pp58-59