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Defining Concepts | Sustainability
Sustainability has been defined broadly as a means of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” What was once an interesting, if optional, feature of some projects on some campuses has become a deeply embedded expectation for campus operations and buildings.
Among questions to consider:
Selection of Building Materials: The full costs and environmental impacts of extracting, processing, and transporting the building’s construction materials must be determined and weighed against less expensive local alternatives.
Building Management Systems: Building management systems should optimize environmental performance, and the systems should be designed with an eye to teaching and learning concerns. Real-time information about the environmental status of the building should be continuously available to residents in a public and transparent format. Planning for
Adaptive Re-use: To make the process of adaptive re-use as easy and inexpensive as possible, one suggestion is to combine a relatively permanent, load-bearing exterior shell of the building with a free-span interior that could be readily reconfigured for future needs.
Alternate Energy Sources: Future residence halls should be energy self-sufficient or nearly self-sufficient. The building is designed to conserve and minimize its energy use through such means as the building’s orientation and its materials, insulation, and building management systems.
Recycling: The building’s features and operating practices should encourage source-reduction practices that conserve resources. Where resources must be used and disposed of, resource recycling should be conveniently provided for within the building.
Technology: The latest technology should be employed to manage the energy use and environmental impacts of building operations and residential life.
Materials and Supplies: To minimize a building’s environmental footprint, carpeting, for example, can be modular so that only worn sections need be replaced periodically. Cleaning and maintenance supplies that are effective yet environmentally safe should be identified.
Energy Management: By monitoring demand and using a variety of feedback systems, heat and light are provided on an as-needed basis. Discretionary energy use is redirected to the times of day when energy from the grid is least costly.
Efficient Water Use: Future residence halls should carefully conserve water, reducing its use through efficient shower, toilet, and lavatory fittings and recycling gray water for appropriate uses such as watering the landscaping.
Defining Concepts | Sustainability
Sustainability has been defined broadly as a means of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” What was once an interesting, if optional, feature of some projects on some campuses has become a deeply embedded expectation for campus operations and buildings.
Among questions to consider:
Selection of Building Materials: The full costs and environmental impacts of extracting, processing, and transporting the building’s construction materials must be determined and weighed against less expensive local alternatives.
Building Management Systems: Building management systems should optimize environmental performance, and the systems should be designed with an eye to teaching and learning concerns. Real-time information about the environmental status of the building should be continuously available to residents in a public and transparent format. Planning for
Adaptive Re-use: To make the process of adaptive re-use as easy and inexpensive as possible, one suggestion is to combine a relatively permanent, load-bearing exterior shell of the building with a free-span interior that could be readily reconfigured for future needs.
Alternate Energy Sources: Future residence halls should be energy self-sufficient or nearly self-sufficient. The building is designed to conserve and minimize its energy use through such means as the building’s orientation and its materials, insulation, and building management systems.
Recycling: The building’s features and operating practices should encourage source-reduction practices that conserve resources. Where resources must be used and disposed of, resource recycling should be conveniently provided for within the building.
Technology: The latest technology should be employed to manage the energy use and environmental impacts of building operations and residential life.
Materials and Supplies: To minimize a building’s environmental footprint, carpeting, for example, can be modular so that only worn sections need be replaced periodically. Cleaning and maintenance supplies that are effective yet environmentally safe should be identified.
Energy Management: By monitoring demand and using a variety of feedback systems, heat and light are provided on an as-needed basis. Discretionary energy use is redirected to the times of day when energy from the grid is least costly.
Efficient Water Use: Future residence halls should carefully conserve water, reducing its use through efficient shower, toilet, and lavatory fittings and recycling gray water for appropriate uses such as watering the landscaping.
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