What Does Sustainability Mean?
Things that come to mind:
- Use of renewable energy
- utilizing passive solar for heating/cooling and lighting
- minimizing waste - such as from construction
- using environmentally friendly resources - such as natural / biodegradable materials and locally sourced materials
- symbiosis with the environment - such as collecting and using rain water
- sustainability of the user
- minimizing noise pollution
- heating and cooling the user and not the overall space
- sufficient air circulation
- access to nature - such as indoor plants
What Inspirational Examples Can We Learn From?
Thinking of examples, I immediate think of our very own Y2E2 (and I suppose the Engineering Quad overall...) which checks a lot of the things I listed above: utilizing passive solar, use of renewable energy with solar panels on the roof, collecting and using rain water, use of thermal mass with the concrete floors, natural lighting through windows and skylights, use of overhangs.