Sustainable and Environmental Architecture - Tatu Lelia

Sustainable and Environmental Architecture

From the beginning of the human existence, people started to lift up structures that will have sufficient components that will improve the quality of living. The more time passing, the structures started to develop, so that there were transformed in buildings. In this process, not only the balance between a simple roof above the head and a completely equipped house started to increase in the favor  of the quality of life, but also the balance between natural environment and artificial one started to lean more and more to the constructed spaces.

In the last period of time, people started thinking more about the environment, and how they could be more protective to it, because they realized that in most of the big metropolis, the green areas are shrinking more and more, the nature being suffocated by the constructions. This is how the concept sustainability   appeared   in the latest preoccupations of  the  architects. In ecology this idea describes how biological systems can remain diverse and productive over time. . For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which has ecological, economic, political and cultural dimensions. Sustainability requires the reconciliation of environmental, social equity and economic demands. This concept was borrowed and used in architecture  being  transformed in a principle of creating the new type of architecture.

The components of the  environmental architecture are completely ecological units that will function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries, and  universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity.

Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the single most important goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy. The most important and cost-effective element of an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system is a well-insulated building. A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel polluted indoor air.

The future of design requires thinking innovatively about the way current construction techniques function so we may expand upon their capabilities. Sustainability has evolved far beyond being a trend and has become an indelible part of this design process. Nowadays the sustainability of  one building can be created using the green roof, the vertical garden and vegetated facades.   

Green roofs serve several purposes for a building, such as absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating a habitat for wildlife, and helping to lower urban air temperatures and mitigate the heat island effect.

Green walls are found most often in urban environments where the plants reduce overall temperatures of the building. "The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Living walls may also be a means for water reuse. Living walls are particularly suitable for cities, as they allow good use of available vertical surface areas. They are also suitable in arid areas, as the circulating water on a vertical wall is less likely to evaporate than in horizontal gardens.

Sustainable solutions have always pushed against the status quo of design and now we can see the new  concrete that sustains and encourages the growth of a multitude of biological organisms on its surface. This is not only a green wall, because it is part of the structure, so it became a response to the need of providing ecological, thermal and aesthetic upgrades for the building.

The new era of  architecture consists in  sustainable and environmental architecture. The solution for the problems from the past may have found a solution in using living, breathing facades that can sustain and in the same time provide a good environment for living. The idea of sustainability, as it is seen now, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions from today will not inhibit the opportunities of future generations.