SUSTAINABLE PLANNING &

ARCHITECTURE

Sustainable planning
Urban planners that are interested in achieving sustainable development or sustainable
cities use various design principles and techniques when designing cities and their
infrastructure. These include Smart Growth theory, Transit-oriented development,
sustainable urban infrastructure and New Urbanism.
Smart Growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth
in infill sites within the existing infrastructure of a city or town to avoid urban sprawl;
and advocates compact, transit-oriented development, walk able, bicycle-friendly land
use, including mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. Transit-oriented
development attempts to maximize access to public transport and thereby reduce the
need for private vehicles. Public transport is considered a form of Sustainable urban
infrastructure, which is a design approach which promotes protected areas, energyefficient buildings, wildlife corridors and distributed, rather than centralized, power
generation and waste water treatment. New Urbanism is more of a social and aesthetic
urban design movement than a green one, but it does emphasize diversity of land use
and population, as well as walk able communities which inherently reduce the need for
automotive travel.
Both urban and rural planning can benefit from including sustainability as a central
criterion when laying out roads, streets, buildings and other components of the built
environment. Conventional planning practice often ignores or discounts the natural
configuration of the land during the planning stages, potentially causing ecological
damage such as the stagnation of streams, mudslides, soil erosion, flooding and
pollution. Applying methods such as scientific modeling to planned building projects
can draw attention to problems before construction begins, helping to minimize
damage to the natural environment.

Cohousing is an approach to planning based on the idea of intentional communities.

Such projects often prioritize common space over private space resulting in grouped
structures that preserve more of the surrounding environment.
Watershed assessment of carrying capacity; estuary, riparian zone restoration and
groundwater recharge for hydrologic cycle viability; and other opportunities and issues
about Water and the environment show that the foundation of smart growth lies in the
protection and preservation of water resources. The total amount of precipitation
landing on the surface of a community becomes the supply for the inhabitants. This
supply amount then dictates the carrying capacity - the potential population - as
supported by the "water crop.
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture is the design of sustainable buildings. Sustainable architecture
attempts to reduce the collective environmental impacts during the production of
building components, during the construction process, as well as during the lifecycle of
the building (heating, electricity use, carpet cleaning etc.) This design practice
emphasizes efficiency of heating and cooling systems; alternative energy sources such
as solar hot water, appropriate building siting, reused or recycled building materials;
on-site power generation - solar technology, ground source heat pumps, wind power;
rainwater harvesting for gardening, washing and aquifer recharge; and on-site waste
management such as green roofs that filter and control storm water runoff. This
requires close cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the
client at all project stages, from site selection, scheme formation, material selection
and procurement, to project implementation.

Sustainable architects design with sustainable living in mind. Sustainable vs green

design is the challenge that designs not only reflect healthy processes and uses but are
powered by renewable energies and site specific resources. A test for sustainable
design is can the design function for its intended use without fossil fuel
unplugged. This challenge suggests architects and planners design solutions that can
function without pollution rather than just reducing pollution. As technology progresses
in architecture and design theories and as examples are built and tested, architects will
soon be able to create not only passive, null-emission buildings, but rather be able to
integrate the entire power system into the building design.
An essential element of Sustainable Building Design is indoor environmental quality
including air quality, illumination, thermal conditions, and acoustics. integrated design
of the indoor environment is essential and must be part of the integrated design of the
entire structure.

The World Commission on Environment and Development has put forth a definition of
sustainability as
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations
to meet their own needs.
This definition of sustainability does not specify the ethical roles of humans for their
everlasting existence on the planet. It also fails to embrace the value of all other
constituents participating in the global ecosystem. The need for finding long-terms
solutions that warrant continuing human existence and well-being is far more
compelling than that of finding a proper terminology to describe the human need. In
this respect, the debate on the terms green, sustainable, or ecological
architecture is not terribly important.
Principles of Sustainable Design
To educate architects to meet this goal of coexistence, we have developed a conceptual
framework. The three levels of the framework (Principles, Strategies, and Methods)
correspond to the three objectives of architectural environmental education:
creating environmental awareness,
explaining the building
ecosystem, and
teaching how to design sustainable buildings.

We propose three principles of sustainability in architecture.

1.Economy of Resources is concerned with the reduction, reuse, and recycling
of the natural resources that are input to a building.
2.Life Cycle Design provides a methodology for analyzing the building process
and its impact on the environment.
3.Humane Design focuses on the interactions between humans and the natural
world. These principles can provide a broad awareness of the environmental impact,
both local and global, of architectural consumption
Sustainable design principles
While the practical application varies among disciplines, some common principles are
as follows:
Low-impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials
which require little energy to process
Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products which require
less energy
Quality and durability: longer-lasting and better-functioning products will have to be
replaced less frequently, reducing the impacts of producing replacements
Design for reuse and recycling: "Products, processes, and systems should be designed
for performance in a commercial 'afterlife'.

Design impact measures for total carbon footprint and life-cycle assessment for any
resource used are increasingly required and available. Many are complex, but some
give quick and accurate whole-earth estimates of impacts.
Sustainable design standards and project design guides are also increasingly available
and are vigorously being developed by a wide array of private organizations and
individuals. There is also a large body of new methods emerging from the rapid
development of what has become known as 'sustainability science' promoted by a wide
variety of educational and governmental institutions.
Biomimicry: "redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant
reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles.
Service substitution: shifting the mode of consumption from personal ownership of
products to provision of services which provide similar functions, e.g., from a private
automobile to a carsharing service. Such a system promotes minimal resource use per
unit of consumption (e.g., per trip driven).
Renewability: materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably
managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness has been
exhausted.
Robust eco-design: robust design principles are applied to the design of a pollution
sources

Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems.
It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with
the planet's ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically
productive land and sea area necessary to supply the resources a human population
consumes, and to assimilate associated waste. Using this assessment, it is possible to
estimate how much of the Earth (or how many planet Earths) it would take to support
humanity if everybody followed a given lifestyle. For 2007, humanity's total ecological
footprint was estimated at 1.5 planet Earths; that is, humanity uses ecological services
1.5 times as quickly as Earth can renew them. Every year, this number is recalculated
to incorporate the three-year lag due to the time it takes for the UN to collect and
publish statistics and relevant research.
Although the term ecological footprint is widely used and well known, the methods used
to calculate it vary greatly. However, standards are now emerging to make results more
comparable and consistent.
There are three main footprint calculation categories including: ecological, water, and
carbon.
The ecological footprint was the first term to be used and published as a unit of
measurement.
The idea of ecological footprint is a composite measure which informs sustainable
development, ecological economics and urban studies. It is quickly becoming a very
practical tool for measuring human impact on the Earth's resource base
Ecological footprint may be simply defined as:
A measure of a community's demand on the global carrying capacity, which compares
this with nature's available long-term carrying capacity.

Ecological footprint analysis compares human demands on nature with the biosphere's
ability to regenerate resources and provide services. It does this by assessing the
biologically productive land and marine area required to produce the resources a
population consumes and absorb the corresponding waste, using prevailing technology.
Footprint values at the end of a survey are categorized for Carbon, Food, Housing, and
Goods and Services as well as the total footprint number of Earths needed to sustain
the world's population at that level of consumption. This approach can also be applied
to an activity such as the manufacturing of a product or driving of a car. This resource
accounting is similar to life cycle analysis wherein the consumption of energy, biomass
(food, fiber), building material, water and other resources are converted into a
normalized measure of land area called global hectares (gha).
Per capita ecological footprint (EF), or ecological footprint analysis (EFA), is a means of
comparing consumption and lifestyles, and checking this against nature's ability to
provide for this consumption. The tool can inform policy by examining to what extent a
nation uses more (or less) than is available within its territory, or to what extent the
nation's lifestyle would be replicable worldwide. The footprint can also be a useful tool
to educate people about carrying capacity and over-consumption, with the aim of
altering personal behavior. Ecological footprints may be used to argue that many
current lifestyles are not sustainable. Such a global comparison also clearly shows the
inequalities of resource use on this planet at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Environmental impact assessment

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an assessment of the possible
positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment,
together consisting of the environmental, social and economic aspects.
The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the ensuing
environmental impacts when deciding whether to proceed with a project. The
International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact
assessment as "the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the
biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major
decisions being taken and commitments made. EIAs are unique in that they do not
require adherence to a predetermined environmental outcome, but rather they require
decision makers to account for environmental values in their decisions and to justify
those decisions in light of detailed environmental studies and public comments on the
potential environmental impacts of the proposal.
There are various methods available to carry out EIAs, some are industry specific and
some general methods:
Industrial products - Product environmental life cycle analysis (LCA) is used for
identifying and measuring the impact on the environment of industrial products. These
EIAs consider technological activities used for various stages of the product: extraction
of raw material for the product and for ancillary materials and equipment, through the
production and use of the product, right up to the disposal of the product, the ancillary
equipment and material.

Fuzzy Arithmetic - EIA methods need specific parameters and variables to be measured
to estimate values of impact indicators. However many of the environment impact
properties cannot be measured on a scale e.g. landscape quality, lifestyle quality, social
acceptance etc. and moreover these indicators are very subjective. Thus to assess the
impacts we may need to take the help of information from similar EIAs, expert criteria,
sensitivity of affected population etc. To treat this information, which is generally
inaccurate, systematically, fuzzy arithmetic and approximate reasoning methods can
be utilized. This is called as a fuzzy logic approach.[
At the end of the project, an EIA should be followed by an audit. An EIA audit evaluates
the performance of an EIA by comparing actual impacts to those that were predicted.
The main objective of these audits is to make future EIAs more valid and effective.
The two main considerations are:
scientific - to check the accuracy of predictions and explain errors.
management- to assess the success of mitigation in reducing impacts.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of India has been in a great effort in
Environmental Impact Assessment in India. The main laws in action are the Water
Act(1974), the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972), the Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act (1981) and the Environment (Protection) Act (1986). The responsible body
for this is the Central Pollution Control Board. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
studies need a significant amount of primary and secondary environmental data. The
primary data are those which need to be collected in the field to define the status of
the environment (like air quality data, water quality data etc.). The secondary data are
those data which have been collected over the years and can be used to understand

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies are conducted over a short period
of time and therefore the understanding of the environmental trends, based on a few
months of primary data, has limitations. Ideally, the primary data has to be considered
along with the secondary data for complete understanding of the existing
environmental status of the area. In many EIA studies, the secondary data needs could
be as high as 80% of the total data requirement. EIC is the repository of one stop
secondary data source for environmental impact assessment in India.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) experience in India indicates that the lack
of timely availability of reliable and authentic environmental data has been a major
bottle neck in achieving the full benefits of EIA. The environment being a multidisciplinary subject, a multitude of agencies is involved in collection of environmental
data. However, there is no single organization in India which tracks the data available
amongst these agencies and makes it available in one place, in a form and manner
required by practitioners in the field of environmental impact assessment in India.
Further, the environmental data is not available in value added forms that can enhance
the quality of the EIA. This in turn adversely affects the time and efforts required for
conducting the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) by project proponents and
also timely environmental clearances by the regulators. With this background,
Environmental Information Centre (EIC) has been set up to serve as a professionally
managed clearing house of environmental information that can be used by MoEF,
project proponents, consultants, NGOs and other stakeholders involved in the process
of environmental impact assessment in India. EIC caters to the need of creating and
disseminating of organized environmental data for various developmental initiatives all
over the country.
EIC stores data in GIS format and makes it available to all environmental impact
assessment studies and to EIA stakeholders in a cost effective and timely manner.

Good project design:

The projects location, dimensions( especially vertical), materials, color, reflectivity,
visible emissions, access routes, traffic volumes and construction programme will all
need to be described in EIA. Good project design and landscape/visual mitigation
should be planned in at the start of the project including
Use of landscape issues as a criterion in the selection of project site or process ( Ex
Landfill vs. incineration)
Careful siting of major structures, access routes and parking, material storage, etc in
relation to visual receptors, ridgelines/valleys etc
Sensitive choice of site levels
Attention to the density, mix, height and massing of building
Retention of special landscape features and provision of visual/ecological buffer zones
Consideration of microclimate and solar aspects of the building
Attention to materials used and details such as openings and balconies
Careful design of open spaces including plantings and fencing and
Enhancement through new wildlife habitats , restoration of derelict land and the
provision of public open space and/or beautiful landscapes.

Sustainable development calls for improving the quality of life for all of the worlds
people without increasing the use of our natural resources beyond the earths carrying
capacity. While sustainable development may require different actions in every region
of the world, the efforts to build a truly sustainable way of life require the integration of
action in three key areas:
Economic Growth and Equity Todays interlinked, global economic systems demand an
integrated approach in order to foster responsible long-term growth while ensuring that
no nation or community is left behind.
Conserving Natural Resources and the Environment To conserve our environmental
heritage and natural resources for future generations, economically viable solutions
must be developed to reduce resource consumption, stop pollution and conserve
natural habitats.
Social Development Throughout the world, people require jobs, food, education,
energy, health care, water and sanitation. While addressing these needs, the world
community must also ensure that the rich fabric of cultural and social diversity, and the
rights of workers, are respected, and that all members of society are empowered to
play a role in determining their futures.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (SD) is the parallel consideration of healthy environments,
life, and human well-being. This includes issues of population, climate, economic
prosperity, energy, natural resource use, waste management, biodiversity, watershed
protection, technology, agriculture, safe water supplies, international security, politics,
green building, sustainable cities, smart development, community/family relations,
human values, etc. All these "pieces" are parts of the sustainable society puzzle,
because they are the basic ingredients of everyday life.

Sustainable development represents a process in which economics, finance, trade,

energy, agriculture, industry, and all other policies are implemented in a way to bring
about development that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
Thus, the goal of sustainable development is to meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs - maintaining the
balance of the "SUSTAINABILITY STOOL."
In practicing sustainable development over the long-term one will:
not diminish the quality of the present environment;
not critically reduce the availability of renewable resources;
take into consideration the value of non-renewable resources to future generations; and
not
compromise
the abilitydevelopment
of other species or future generations to meet their needs.
Ingredients
of sustainable

Stakeholder participation:
A stakeholder in seemingly broad terms as: anyone who has an interest in the project.
Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the
project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project
completion. They may also exert influence over the projects objectives and outcomes.
By this definition a stakeholder includes those who may live far away from the
environs of a sustainable development project, but who may take an interest
nonetheless.

UNIT II Development in historical context

Early settlement patterns

Site and Settlement
Settlement is a place where people live. It includes the temporary camp of the hunters
and herders, the permanent settlement called villages and large urban agglomerations.

Site and Settlement

The reason why sites for settlements were chosen for the earliest settlements would be
different to choosing sites today. Original sites were chosen based on their natural
features and advantages, nowadays sites would also be based on human factors. There
were originally seven natural factors that were taken into consideration, perhaps by a
tribe leader who was looking to settle his people somewhere. The more advantages a
site had the more likely it was for the settlement to grow:
PROTECTION
Hilltop locations give good views of the enemy if you are likely to be attacked
Hilltop views also give good lookout points
WATER SUPPLY
Drinking
Cooking
Washing
Could come from a variety of sources, a river, spring or well for example
However, too much water could lead a settlement that could flood or become
marshy
RIVERS
Water supply
Needs to be easy to cross either on foot at a ford or by a bridge
BUILDING MATERIALS
Wood or stone to build settlement
SHELTER
South facing slopes have more sun and therefore are warmer
North facing slopes are exposed to the cold northerly wind

SUPPLY OF WOOD
Fires
Cooking
Building material
FLAT LAND
Easy to build on
Able to grow crops
Easier for communication e.g. travelling to other towns
Nowadays, factors such as transport networks are also taken into account when
deciding to locate somewhere.
Settlement Patterns
When early settlements began to grow, there were no planning regulations. People built
houses wherever they want to. Some houses are built far apart from each
other(dispersed). Other houses are built close together making villages. Villages began
to grow outwards and the shape of the settlements changed. Some settlement become
long and narrow (linear) and others stayed clustered together(nucleated). The pattern
or shape of early settlements would have been influenced by the surrounding area.
Today people must have permission from the local authority to build houses.
Settlements now grow in a planned way.

Three main types of settlement pattern can now be identified:

DISPERSED
Found in upland areas
Buildings are spread out
Many dispersed settlements comprise of farms. They are spread out because of the
space taken up by the farms. Other dispersed settlements are found in
mountainous areas where it is difficult to live.
Human settlements may consist of only few dwelling units(hamlets)
LINEAR
Buildings are built in a line
This could be along a river valley, road or railway
Linear settlements follow the shape of the land. It is easier to build on the floor of a
valley than on the steep sides.
NUCLEATED
Buildings are grouped together around a central point. The centre of the
settlement may be a crossroads, a church, a water supply, or a market place. Such
settlement also occurs on hill tops.
Early settlers grouped together for protection
Found in flat, lowland areas.
Human settlement may be as large as megalopolis with a big cluster of buildings
accommodating millions of people
PLANNED
Planned settlements have a regular pattern. They may have a square shape or a

Climate responsive planning:

Climate responsive planning includes the following steps
Perform a site analysis. Determine the weather patterns, climate, soil types, wind speed
and direction, heating degree days and path of the sun. Look at the water flows, habitat
and geology of the site. Document each with a qualified team of professionals to
understand the ramifications of building in that specific place.
Layout the building on the site. Using the general program, through an integrative team
process, use a basic massing of the building layout to determine specifically on site the
most optimal location for the building to be situated. Factors to consider here are
access to infrastructure, staying at least 100 feet clear of any watershed, not building
within a floodplain and/or in a habitat with endangered species. Ask: what trees and
other existing geological features should be avoided? How does the water flow across
the site dictate the location of the building?
Its all about the sun - orient the building based upon cardinal directions. The goal here is
to maximize the amount of sun that heats the space in the winter (hence using less
energy to mechanically heat) and decrease the amount of sun that cooks in the
summer (hence using less energy to mechanically cool).
Select the appropriate window areas and glazing types based on orientation. South facing
facades should utilize a window area appropriate to its orientation and glazing should
utilize a double or triple paned glass with a low-e coating to minimize the amount of
heat transmitted into the space in the hottest months, while keeping heat inside during
the cooler winter months. For example, a south facing glass window wall will cook the
occupants inside during the hot summer months if care is not taken on this faade.

Building envelope design varies greatly by geographic area. When designing the envelope
of the building, factors such as insulation, vapor barriers and air barriers will vary
radically depending on whether the project is in the cold, snowy north, the hot and
humid south or the arid desert.
Minimize the building footprint. Question the true needs of the program do you really
need that much space? Are there ways that spaces can become multi-functional? Do
we really need that many private offices if some staff can telecommute occasionally
and share offices? Once your team is set on the minimize program, take a look at the
size of your footprint. Is it possible to add extra stories to make the footprint smaller?
That way, the building will have less excavation cost, and more wall area that can
benefit from the warming effects of the sun and an increase in natural daylighting.
Design for natural ventilation. Since warm air rises, a building can be cooled by designing
for stack ventilation by drawing cooler air from openings low in the building, while
carrying heat away through openings in the top of the space. The rate at which the air
moves is a function of the vertical distance between the inlets and outlets, their size
and the difference in temperature over the height of the room.
Relax the occupants comfort standards. Most buildings in this day and age are designed
to keep occupants fairly comfortable around 78 degrees Fahrenheit. However, with
climate responsive design, reducing the amount of energy used to cool and heat the
building can result in using natural systems the sun and the wind. With these, if
building occupants are open to adding or removing layers during the seasons, its
amazing how much energy can be saved.
Conduct modeling and analysis. Energy modeling, lighting models, daylighting studies,
computational fluid dynamics are all tools that designers can and should use to

Perform multiple iterations. It will take the design team multiple passes of just these
basic layouts in the pre-design or schematic design phase to hone in the lowest energy
use possible, optimized for the specific site. However, its better to spend more time in
the early phases of design to model the project which is far less costly than making
changes in the field or later on in the design process. Keep at the trials and eventually
the building will be responding directly to the climate specific to the project site.
Orientation of streets and buildings
The layout of a city is the way its buildings and streets are distributed. There are
different types of layouts.
1.Irregular layout
The urban growth has not been planned. It has no particular order. The streets may be
narrow and winding.
There are few open spaces. These are typical Muslim and medieval towns

2. Grid plan
The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to
each other, forming a grid. It is typical North American cities and of newer districts of
European cities.

3. Radiocentric layout
The streets radiate out from a central point.

Creation of habitable environment

Generation of land

Bioregional approach
Bioregion is a geographical area described in terms of its unique combination of plants,
animals, geology, climate and water features an area defined by natural boundaries
and distinct living communities the whole of which distinguishes it from other
bioregions. A bioregion refers both to geographical terrain and a terrain of
consciousness to a place and the ideas that have developed about how too live in that
place. Thus, natural forms and living communities, including human, become the
descriptive features of each bioregion instead of the politically drawn lines used to
define county, state and nation. Watersheds, being an important physical feature of
bioregions, are often used to define their boundaries, as has happened in New Zealand.
Bioregional planning as yet has few established paradigms or methods, but the theory
and practice are beginning to coalesce around observed regional patterns. A
bioregional scale is emerging as a meaningful geographic framework for understanding
place and designing long-term sustainable communities.
Awareness and care for ones bioregional home and its patterns is fundamental to a
place-based understanding and community stewardship of sustainability to cultural
and ecological well-being living in a place sustainable and respectfully. What
bioregionalism represents, identification with place and its history and culture, and
living within the laws of nature, is new only for people who come out of an industrialtechnological heritage. The essence of bioregionalism has been reality and common
sense for native people living close to the land for thousands of years. Bioregionalism
acknowledges that we not only live in cities, towns, villages and country-sides; we also
live in watersheds, ecosystems, and eco-regions. This context allows us to find ways to
live sustainably in our settlements while at the same time provides us ways to nurture
and restore the more-than-human community that surrounds us and which we are
dependent on in so many ways.

Bioregionalism is taking the time to learn the possibilities of place. It is a mindfulness of

local environment, history, and community aspirations that leads to a sustainable
future. It relies on safe and renewable sources of food and energy. It ensures
employment by supplying a rich diversity of services within the community, by
recycling our resources, and by exchanging prudent surpluses with other regions.
Bioregionalism is working to satisfy basic needs locally, such as education, health care
and self-governance. The bioregional perspective recreates a widely-shared sense of
regional identity founded upon a renewed critical awareness of and respect for the
integrity of our ecological communities.
The bioregional framework supports the goal of accelerating change toward improved
well-being for nature and society for a number of reasons:
Bioregionalism identifies areas similar in transport-trade, communication networks,
natural resource reliance, cultures, recreational desires, natural ecosystems,
governance, and societal issues of concern.
It makes little sense to discuss the topic of sustainability at the global scale if
insufficient thought is given to the local places and scales where human life actually
occurs. Societal actions that are sustainable for humans, other life-forms, and earthly
systems can best be achieved by means of a spatial framework in which people live as
rooted, active, participating members of a reasonably scaled, naturally bounded,
ecologically defined place.
Considering problems and solutions from a bioregional perspective offers an
opportunity to engage in comprehensive, adaptively managed change improving
societys overall opportunity to achieve sustainability at a scale not possible within a
single community effort. One can discern patterns that diminish the quality of life,

National and international communities of people will have to undergo significant

adaptive change to deal with a transition from global warming. But large-scale social
change will only happen where people share common concerns, goals, and core values.
Acknowledging that community-by-community change is too slow, the bioregion offers
an example of where communities with common ecology, culture, and economy can
converge for a greater good. Likewise, challenges to social change are certainly more
easily overcome in a converging of local communities at the bioregion than by trying to
encourage action at the national level.
Bioregions are governed by nature not politics. So once we understand the inherent
physical, biological and ecological relationships of a bioregion we can count on actions
judged to be sound according to the theory of the three-legged stool or threeoverlapping circles to be much more predictable, enduring, and supportive, as well as
less costly, to society than the unending quest to find technological fixes for all our
problems that governing bodies can promote their next election on.
Because of the many common threads that weave through the landscape tapestry of a
bioregion scale, which we can personalize by calling home, the concentric circles of
environment, society, and economy relationships become much easier to traverse,
affording us the opportunity to leave home a little better off than we might have found
it.
Bioregional-based planning and action can help society narrow problems and solutions,
and help participants to acknowledge the limitations of a place and its resources so that
they will not continue to overestimate the carrying capacity of the regions they inhabit,
and live more sustainably.
This convergent, bioregional approach can influence the larger world mainstream by its

For every bioregion, there may be a unique set of practices, tools, models, and
successes within individual organizations that supports planning, design, and
management. Instead of reinventing the wheel with each new initiative, project, or
campaign the bioregional scale of sustainability work can enhance a transfer of
knowledge and technology for the betterment of the entire region.
The bioregional framework represents a whole scale nature-human linked system as a
place-based approach to promote scientific understanding, planning, and action to
regenerate our communities and other living systems.
Basic goals of Bioregional Approach
The basic goals of a bioregional approach are as follows:
restore and maintain natural systems,
develop sustainable means for satisfying basic human needs such as food, water,
energy, shelter, resource materials, waste handling, and cultural information,
create and support a broad range of activities which make it possible to fit better into
the life-place.
These goals need to be attained in all human communities, but cities are especially
important because of their large human populations and significantly high consumption
level of resources. Restoring and maintaining natural systems in a citys bioregion is an
urgent problem in both industrialized and developing countries and should get a high
priority. An example would be rehabilitation of Tokyo Bay by restoring native
ecosystems of aquatic plants and animals. Developing sustainable means for supplying
human needs will require becoming as bio-regionally self-reliant as possible rather than
importing necessities of life, and recycling all wastes rather than creating refuse dumps
and pollution. Creating and supporting ways to fit into the life-place needs to be done in
a great number of ways ranging from encouraging small local businesses that recycle
materials to reviving seasonal festivals.

Initiating Bioregional Sustainability

Here is a guide for starting the transition to achieve bioregional sustainability in any
city. It covers main areas of human needs and community functions, and lists examples
of basic policies and actions which need to be undertaken.
Food
Support development of small-scale agriculture by individuals and groups, within the
city as well as in surrounding rural and suburban areas. Create open spaces for
gardening within city neighborhoods, renovate former manufacturing and storage
spaces for growing food, build structures for rooftop and balcony gardens.
Initiate public programs to actively involve adults and school children in growing some
of their own food. Provide gardening facilities, tools and equipment for use by all
private citizens.
Water
Restore water purity of nearby rivers, creeks, lakes, wells, and any other local means
for providing fresh water.
Reuse filtered grey water (used once previously for light purposes such as washing
clothes or bathing) a second time for heavy uses including flushing toilets, cleaning
buildings, and watering landscapes. Develop dual water piping systems for pure and
grey water in offices and homes.
Refuse
Convert garbage collection and disposal into a recycling agency to separate and
distribute reused materials.
Designate organic material from markets, restaurants, and households to compost
facilities that create soil for agriculture.
Sewage

Energy
Produce electrical energy locally through non-polluting renewable means including
wind, solar, water currents, and so forth.
Construct rooftop solar collectors to provide hot water for office buildings, factories, and
residences.
Reconstruct and retrofit all buildings (offices, manufacturing, and residences) to
conserve energy through efficiency devices, insulation, and other means.
Renovate building designs to utilize construction features that provide cooling (rather
than relying solely on electricity powered air conditioning).

Materials and Production

Mandate use of some portion of locally recycled materials in production of goods and
construction projects.
Use low-cost loans, tax reductions, and low rent public facilities to encourage new
sustainability oriented companies that use recycled materials (solar collectors, park
benches from recycled wood, etc.).
Emphasize use of local, sustainably derived resources and materials whenever possible.
Require replacement of natural resources that are consumed (restored fisheries for fish
caught, new tree plantings for each tree cut, etc.). Assign precedence for using locally
produced goods for public purposes.

Transportation
Convert public and government vehicles to use renewable
means of energy such as solar-produced electricity.
Encourage greater use of alternative energy in private transportation through lower
license fees for non-fossil fuel automobiles and trucks. Limit private automobile use to
only major highways and streets, and prohibit their use in downtown areas. (Rebuild
downtown streets as pedestrian malls.)

Education and Culture

Teach bioregional information and sustainability as required subjects at all levels of
local schools and universities.
Develop public sustainability information for citizens in public places such as agency
offices, libraries, bus stops, etc.
Create celebrations, public art projects, identification markers for natural features, and
other cultural information about natural features.

Parks and Open Spaces

Redesign parks and open spaces as habitats for ecosystems of plants and animals
using wild places as models. Develop municipal nurseries for growing indigenous plant
species. Use local native plants and trees whenever possible in public parks and
landscaping
Develop corridors between existing parks and open spaces by acquiring land currently
occupied by buildings.

Sustainability Planning
Adopt sustainability principles and goals as the central purpose for considering land
use, construction, zoning, development, and other planning decisions by city and
surrounding local governments.
Assign a priority status for sustainability goals in all aspects of city management and
operation

Soil and water conservation:

Soil and water conservation measures are predominantly applied for the following
purposes:
1.to control runoff and thus prevent loss of soil by soil erosion, to reduce soil
compaction;
2.to maintain or to improve soil fertility;
3.to conserve or drain water;
4.to harvest (excess) water.
Classification of Soil and Water Conservation Measures
A variety of soil and water conservation measures are well known. These technologies
can be differentiated either by their main purpose or by type. As many among them
fulfil several functions simultaneously these are classified here by type:
1.physical measures (also termed mechanical or technical measures);
2.biological measures (also termed vegetative measures);
3.agronomic measures (sometimes called best management practices).
Application of Soil and Water Conservation Measures
These measures are often used in combination, especially the many traditional soil and
water conservation techniques. This is increasingly considered as reasonable. Merely
technical approaches are often not successful, especially without participation of the
local farmers, forest managers, etc. It has also been recognized that under modern
circumstances traditional measures alone may often be insufficient to conserve the
vital soil and water resources and have to be supplemented by modern practices to
achieve a sustainable resource management.

Physical measures
These are structures built for soil and water conservation. Some principles should be
considered. They should aim
to increase the time of concentration of runoff, thereby allowing more of it to infiltrate
into the soil;
divide a long slope into several short ones and thereby reducing amount and velocity
of surface runoff;
reduce the velocity of the surface runoff;
protect against damage due to excessive runoff.
In most systems any physical measure can be built check dams or contour ditches

Biological Measures
Biological measures for soil and water conservation work by their protective impact on
the vegetation cover. A dense vegetation cover
prevents splash erosion;
reduces the velocity of surface runoff;
facilitates accumulation of soil particles;
increases surface roughness which reduces runoff and increases infiltration;
the roots and organic matter stabilise the soil aggregates and increase infiltration.
These effects entail a low soil erosion rate compared with an uncovered soil which
shows in general a high soil erosion rate. Even cultivated crops in agricultural areas are
a better protection against soil loss than uncovered soil (relatively high soil erosion
rate). Other positive impacts have been observed, such as improved soil moisture
condition (or protection against erosion by wind). Thus, biological measures are an
effective method of soil and water conservation, especially since they are low in cost.
Additionally, these can be used with structural and agronomic measures.
Several types of biological soil and water conservation measures exist

Agronomic Measures
Agronomic conservation measures function by
reducing the impact of raindrops through interception and thus reducing soil erosion
and
increasing infiltration rates and thereby reducing surface runoff and soil erosion
(Tidemann 1998).
These measures can be applied together with physical or biological soil and water
conservation measures. In some systems they may be more effective than structural
measures. Furthermore, it is the cheapest way of soil and water conservation. The
significance of land use practices becomes apparent in a comparison made : "The
differences in erosion rates caused by different land use practices on the same soil are
much greater than the corresponding values from different soils under the same land
use".
However, agronomic measures are often more difficult to implement compared with
structural ones as they require a change in familiar practices

UNIT-III Resource efficiency

Resource efficiency
Resource efficiency at its most basic means using resources such as water, energy and
even your workforce more efficiently. Getting the most out of what you have. This can
be beneficial in many ways such as reducing the amount of material used and/or
manufacturing costs, reducing waste materials and compliance to environmental
legislation. It also reduces your impact on the environment.
It is about sustainable management and the use of resources throughout their life
cycle- from extraction, transport, transformation, consumption and disposal of waste.
It means producing more value with less material and consuming differently, to limit
the risks linked with scarcity and for less environmental impact within our planets
natural limits. Resources include all materials and natural resources from food, timber
and biodiversity in the widest sense, to energy,
metals, soil, water, minerals, our atmosphere and land.
Why do we need to act on resource efficiency?
1.Growing economic activity and population growth (9 billion by 2050) are using up
natural resources
2.Competition for resources (including raw materials) increases, resource scarcities
appear, prices go up this will affect the European economy
3.Resources such as water, fertile soil, clean air and ecosystem services are central to
our health and quality of life

Ecological limits of resources

What can resource efficiency bring to the economy and society?

New business opportunities (innovation, eco-industries), new skilled jobs
Competitiveness and cost savings for European businesses
- processes use less energy and other resources
- products use less material and/or more recycling material
- reduced dependency on virgin raw materials and imports
Better food/water/energy security
Improved state of the environment
Help in reducing carbon emissions
Efficient Production Processes
save water, reduce chemicals, reduce metals = save costs

Making greater use of eco-systems services

Water Purification using plants / Flood buffer / Leisure area/ Biodiversity support

Eco-design and planning can lead to significant reductions in resource use

Water: quality and quantity

Water efficiency could be improved by 40%

Recycling provides needed metals

Recycling provides metals and hasmuch lower impacts than mining
25 kg Electrical and Electronic Waste per citizen per year

Waste can be used as a Resource

Resource efficiency policies across the life-cycle

Land Resource
Loss of biodiversity stems largely from the habitat loss and fragmentation produced by
the human appropriation of land for development, forestry and agriculture as natural
capital is progressively converted to man-made capital. Land use change is fundamental
to the operations of the biosphere because alterations in the relative proportions of land
dedicated to urbanisation, agriculture, forest, woodland, grassland and pasture have a
marked effect on the global water, carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles and this
can impact negatively on both natural and human systems. At the local human scale,
major sustainability benefits accrue from sustainable parks and gardens and green cities.
Since the Neolithic Revolution about 47% of the worlds forests have been lost to human
use. Present-day forests occupy about a quarter of the worlds ice-free land with about
half of these occurring in the tropics. In temperate and boreal regions forest area is
gradually increasing (with the exception of Siberia), but deforestation in the tropics is of
major concern.
Food is essential to life. Feeding more than seven billion human bodies takes a heavy toll
on the Earths resources. This begins with the appropriation of about 38% of the Earths
land surface and about 20% of its net primary productivity. Added to this are the resourcehungry activities of industrial agribusiness everything from the crop need for irrigation
water, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to the resource costs of food packaging,
transport (now a major part of global trade) and retail. Environmental problems
associated with industrial agriculture and agribusiness are now being addressed through
such movements as sustainable agriculture, organic farming and more sustainable
business practices.

Energy Resource
The Sun's energy, stored by plants (primary producers) during photosynthesis, passes
through the food chain to other organisms to ultimately power all living processes.
Since the industrial revolution the concentrated energy of the Sun stored in fossilized
plants as fossil fuels has been a major driver of technology which, in turn, has been the
source of both economic and political power.
In 2007 climate scientists of the IPCC concluded that there was at least a 90% probability
that atmospheric increase in CO2 was human-induced, mostly as a result of fossil fuel
emissions but, to a lesser extent from changes in land use.
Stabilizing the worlds climate will require high-income countries to reduce their emissions
by 6090% over 2006 levels by 2050 which should hold CO2 levels at 450650 ppm from
current levels of about 380 ppm.
Above this level, temperatures could rise by more than 2C to produce catastrophic
climate change.
Reduction of current CO2 levels must be achieved against a background of global
population increase and developing countries aspiring to energy-intensive high
consumption Western lifestyles.
Reducing greenhouse emissions, is being tackled at all scales, ranging from tracking the
passage of carbon through the carbon cycle to the commercialization of renewable
energy, developing less carbon-hungry technology and transport systems and attempts
by individuals to lead carbon neutral lifestyles by monitoring the fossil fuel use embodied

Flow of CO2 in an ecosystem

Water resource
Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. Of this, 97.5% is the salty water of the
oceans and only 2.5% freshwater, most of which is locked up in the Antarctic ice sheet.
The remaining freshwater is found in glaciers, lakes, rivers, wetlands, the soil, aquifers
and atmosphere.
Due to the water cycle, fresh water supply is continually replenished by precipitation,
however there is still a limited amount necessitating management of this resource.
Awareness of the global importance of preserving water for ecosystem services has
only recently emerged as, during the 20th century, more than half the worlds wetlands
have been lost along with their valuable environmental services.
Increasing urbanization pollutes clean water supplies and much of the world still does
not have access to clean, safe water.
Greater emphasis is now being placed on the improved management of blue
(harvestable) and green (soil water available for plant use) water, and this applies at all
scales of water management.
Ocean circulation patterns have a strong influence on climate and weather and, in turn,
the food supply of both humans and other organisms.
Scientists have warned of the possibility, under the influence of climate change, of a
sudden alteration in circulation patterns of ocean currents that could drastically alter
the climate in some regions of the globe.
Ten per cent of the world's population about 600 million people live in low-lying

Water resource
Water security and food security are inextricably linked. In the decade 195160 human
water withdrawals were four times greater than the previous decade.
This rapid increase resulted from scientific and technological developments impacting
through the economy especially the increase in irrigated land, growth in industrial
and power sectors, and intensive dam construction on all continents.
This altered the water cycle of rivers and lakes, affected their water quality and had a
significant impact on the global water cycle.
Currently towards 35% of human water use is unsustainable, drawing on diminishing
aquifers and reducing the flows of major rivers: this percentage is likely to increase if
climate change impacts become more severe, populations increase, aquifers become
progressively depleted and supplies become polluted and unsanitary.
From 1961 to 2001 water demand doubled - agricultural use increased by 75%,
industrial use by more than 200%, and domestic use more than 400%.
In the 1990s it was estimated that humans were using 4050% of the globally available
freshwater in the approximate proportion of 70% for agriculture, 22% for industry, and
8% for domestic purposes with total use progressively increasing.
Water efficiency is being improved on a global scale by increased demand
management, improved infrastructure, improved water productivity of agriculture,
minimising the water intensity (embodied water) of goods and services, addressing
shortages in the non-industrialised world, concentrating food production in areas of
high productivity, and planning for climate change. At the local level, people are
becoming more self-sufficient by harvesting rainwater and reducing use of mains
water.

Bio diversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem,
biome, or planet. Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be highest at low latitudes near the
equator which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity.
Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea
surface temperature is highest and in mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. Biodiversity
generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time but will likely
slow in the future.
Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions. One estimate is that
<1%-3% of the species that have existed on Earth are extant.
Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led
to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic eon (the last 540 million
years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosiona period during
which the majority of multi-cellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years
included repeated, massive biodiversity losses classified as mass extinction events. In
the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The
PermianTriassic extinction event, 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate
recovery took 30 million years. The most recent, the CretaceousPaleogene extinction
event, occurred 65 million years ago and has often attracted more attention than others
because it resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity
reduction and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity. Named the Holocene extinction,
the reduction is caused primarily by human impacts, particularly habitat destruction.
Conversely, biodiversity impacts human health in a number of ways, both positively and
negatively.

Human settlements- Sustainability principles

1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels, underground metals, and minerals
2. Reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals and other unnatural substances
3. Reduce encroachment upon nature
4. Meet human needs fairly & efficiently
One approach to sustainable living, exemplified by small-scale urban transition towns and
rural eco-villages, seeks to create self-reliant communities based on principles of simple
living, which maximize self-sufficiency particularly in food production.
These principles, on a broader scale, underpin the concept of a bioregional economy.
These approaches often utilize commons based knowledge sharing of open source
appropriate technology.
Other approaches, loosely based around new urbanism, are successfully reducing
environmental impacts by altering the built environment to create and preserve
sustainable cities which support sustainable transport.
Residents in compact urban neighborhoods drive fewer miles, and have significantly
lower environmental impacts across a range of measures, compared with those living in
sprawling suburbs.
The concept of Circular flow land use management has also been introduced in Europe
to promote sustainable land use patterns that strive for compact cities and a reduction of
green field land take by urban sprawl.

Large scale social movements can influence both community choices and the built
environment. Eco-municipalities may be one such movement.
Eco-municipalities take a systems approach, based on sustainability principles. The ecomunicipality movement is participatory, involving community members in a bottom-up
approach.
In Sweden, more than 70 cities and towns25 per cent of all municipalities in the country
have adopted a common set of "Sustainability Principles" and implemented these
systematically throughout their municipal operations.
There are now twelve eco-municipalities in the United States and the American Planning
Association has adopted sustainability objectives based on the same principles.
There is a wealth of advice available to individuals wishing to reduce their personal
impact on the environment through small, inexpensive and easily achievable steps.
But the transition required to reduce global human consumption to within sustainable
limits involves much larger changes, at all levels and contexts of society.
The United Nations has recognized the central role of education, and have declared a
decade of education for sustainable development, 20052014, which aims to "challenge
us all to adopt new behaviors and practices to secure our future".
The Worldwide Fund for Nature proposes a strategy for sustainability that goes beyond
education to tackle underlying individualistic and materialistic societal values head-on
and strengthen people's connections with the natural world.
.

Biodiversity at Campus level

Most of the education and research institutions in Europe and America have adopted sustainability
agenda and are implementing programmes to reduce their carbon footprint, recycle the resources,
adopt energy efficiency measures and include sustainability issues in the teaching programmes. In
UK, universities are ranked for the greenness as a green league index.
Educational institutions at all levels and research institutions have a critical role to play. The
rationale for these to take a proactive role in promotion of sustainability Agenda areas follows
1.Demand for increased R & D on green technologies and practices and creating a structured
academic ambience for environmental sensitivity to nurture creativity and innovation in research.
2.Become a model on sustainability or green energy, low carbon transport and energy systems,
water conservation, green buildings, recycling and resource management and biodiversity
conservation
3.Adopt and inculcate green practices on the campus: Promote energy efficiency, renewable energy
technologies, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, waste management, recycling, energy
efficient building construction, transport management etc
4.Conservation of biodiversity and wildlife on campus and carbon stock enhancement on campus
land
5.Develop, demonstrate and disseminate green technological practices and management systems
to municipal corporations, industries, corporates, establishments, transport agencies, farms and
individuals in the city or region they are located in.
6.Mainstream green or sustainability agenda in education and teaching programs of the institute
7.Create awareness among faculty, students, staff and workers on green sustainable practices

This green approach would involve making institutional arrangements, developing

Green/sustainability Agenda and policies, preparing technologies, management practices,
implementation, monitoring, reporting and dissemination. Initial steps at the institution level would
involve the following
1.Setting up a green office in each institute
2.Networking among the green offices
3.Anchoring a Resource group on green agenda to lead and coordinate the greening programme.
Interventions in a phased manner:
Phase I

Develop a baseline scenario for the institute

Phase II :

Development of green technology packages

Phase III :

Implementation of green action plans in a phased manner

Phase IV :

Monitoring, Reporting, verification and Evaluation

Phase V :

Mainstreaming Green Agenda in education and teaching

Sustainability Agenda cant be a choice and educational institutions should be duty bound to adopt
and promote sustainability. The different types of interventions with differing financial implications
1. Cost effective technologies: Many green technologies are cost effective with net financial benefit
even immediately Eg: Energy efficient lighting, air conditioning and refrigeration, rain water
harvesting, recycling of paper, bio-energy from organic waste, biomass power, solar water
heater
2. Cost effective on a life cycle basis: Technologies that may not be cost effective immediately but
will be if life cycle cost analysis is carried out. Eg: Energy sufficient building technologies, solar
PV for some applications, wind power etc.
3. Emerging technologies: Technologies which are still evolving and require large investment and
may not be cost effective. Eg: Concentrated solar power, SPV for large scale applications
4. Other interventions: Interventions such as gardening and tree planting are part of any institutes
maintenance programmes and will be part of the institutes budget.
The institute should go firstly for the cost effective technologies which may not require any
additional funding though it may involve some investment for replacing inefficient devices or
systems. Institutes depending upon financial resources may consider adoption of technologies
which require significant investment but are cost effective in the long run.
These two categories of technologies need to be mainstreamed for meeting the energy, water,
paper etc needs of the institutes even in the short term. The last category of technologies which
are still in development stage could be considered for demonstration or testing.
Incentives to promote implementation of Green Agenda could be evolved through mutual
consultation.

Biodiversity in buildings The new challenge for Architecture

The political focus on global warming has tended to reduce the importance architects attach to
protecting biodiversity. Yet the impact architecture has upon ecosystems, both at the building and
further afield, is enormous.
Architects impact upon biodiversity in five main ways:
Decisions regarding roofs, walls, landscape
Materials used in construction- their sourcing, assembly and disposal
Resources needed to sustain buildings in use (energy, water etc)
Adverse affects of buildings in terms of air and water pollution
Conservation and rehabilitation of existing structures.
These can be considered in isolation or as a system of inter-connected factors. Architects could see
the new regulations as an opportunity to connect architecture and nature. Buildings and cities have
a surprisingly big impact upon habitats and the many vulnerable species that they contain. These
impacts are often far way and hence are easily ignored or subject to 'greenwash' standards (as in
timber sourcing). Also many of the impacts are insidious such as polystyrene beads and plastic
fragments which end up choking our rivers and killing marine life. These are often the result of
packaging from the building site. Biodiversity is the Cinderella of the green movement in
architecture.
Biodiversity is defined as having three main levels. It is concerned with habitats (wetlands,
rainforests, coral reefs); individual species (bat, bird, plant, insect etc); and genetic diversity within
species (this is why genetic modification matters). Although architecture does not traditionally
concern itself with such matters, the growth of sustainability as an ever-expanding set of global
narratives and regulation exposes building design and construction to the close scrutiny of the
biodiversity movement.

Some architects have already started to fill in the gap in our knowledge and sought to influence
practice. The 'cradle to cradle' idea owes much to an understanding of ecological systems, taking
principles from nature and applying them to buildings. Similarly the 'biomimicry' design movement
and such initiatives as bioclimatic skyscrapers promoted over a decade ago have a clear
commitment to addressing biodiversity. But beyond the formal adoption of ecological principles to
design methodology, biodiversity needs a little more attention in everyday practice.
Nature affects us culturally and spiritually and provides the basis for most of our food, medicines,
fibre, construction materials, fresh water and even energy. According to Ban Ki-moon, the UN
Secretary General, the 'conservation of biodiversity makes a critical contribution to moderating the
scale of climate change and reducing its negative impact by making ecosystems (including human
societies) more resilient'. By linking climate change and biodiversity there is a new agenda for
architecture - one that promises more richness and beauty than buildings intent merely upon
reducing their carbon footprints.
One of the key drivers for the loss of global biodiversity is building development. There is
insufficient attention paid to integrating biodiversity policies with strategies for urbanism.
Infrastructure development, mass housing and social programs generally pay scant regard to
connections between biodiversity and human well-being. This is an area where knowledge is poor
and action thin on the ground beyond a few token projects.
Global Biodiversity calls for better 'communication, education and awareness raising' around the
topic of biodiversity. It seeks to influence the indirect drivers (such as architects and the
construction industry) as well as the direct drivers such as fisheries, forestry and agriculture.
Biodiversity is becoming a core issue for many of today's major economic sectors and is
increasingly a heading in policies for corporate environmental responsibility - hence it will impact
upon how companies commission their buildings.

Besides the links between strategies for global warming and biodiversity which have found their
way into recent international agreements, another change is the move away from the pocket
approach to habitat protection to that of linear systems. The latter is driven by the need to establish
migration corridors whereby species can move across urban areas and through the world's
expanding deserts as global warming bites. Such corridors are often based on inland water systems
and in Europe involve much habitat creation on former brown field land. Building in or adjacent to
such corridors can do much to support local and often also global biodiversity.
Action points for creating biodiversity as part of architecture:
1.Establish ecological baseline and strengthen this
2.Create habitat opportunities as part of the development process
3.Leave wasteland and dead trees alone
4.Seek to link habitats on the site with those further afield
5.Use water as the biological driver, exploiting grey-water and SUDS
6.Provide an opportunity for humans and nature to interface
7.Avoid over-trimming grass or hedges (establish wildflower areas)
8.Protect what is inherited.
Biodiversity, quality of life and global warning are directly connected. Architects have a key role to
play alongside their actions to reduce energy consumption. However, unlike CO2 emissions, the
science and knowledge of biodiversity in a building context is less well developed. The choice
between steel, concrete, masonry or timber construction is complex from an energy point of view let
alone the ecological impacts from cradle to grave. Yet society is moving towards a richer
understanding of sustainability where green roofs, planted facades and construction materials from
recycled waste or bio-crops are not just emblems but serious attempts to address ecological
diversity. The failure to achieve lasting carbon emission targets at COP15 has shifted the green
focus onto biodiversity and here architects need to become the new design leaders as protectors
and creators of biodiversity.

However, integrating nature and architecture within the building is by no means straightforward.
Besides the obvious maintenance costs, a living faade may well obstruct daylight through windows
(thereby adding to energy use). Nature is dynamic whilst architecture is static: the two systems are
in conflict unless attention is paid to zones and layers. Typically a planted faade needs its own
sub-frame forward of the building line with integrated irrigation. A planted roof is also best conceived
as another sheltering layer, one that mediates between the external and internal climate. In spite of
these difficulties recent examples are pointing to a fresh approach to sustainability and one which
carries a great deal of public support.
It has become the ambition of new build to be truly sustainable and what an excellent goal that is.
But to achieve that goal not only is it important to reach the highest standards for waste
minimization, use of sustainable materials and reducing energy use to achieve low or zero carbon
buildings; it also needs to retain the value for biodiversity that our built environment has always
provided.
The need to reduce the carbon footprint of our future (and current) housing stock is without dispute.
To enable this vital change to come about, new materials, designs and technologies have evolved
rapidly. But it is likely that these changes to reduce our carbon footprint by making our buildings
'airtight' will lead to losses in biodiversity associated with our built environment unless this is
considered early on in the process. It is so important that provision for all this biodiversity is
accommodated. And yet, with a little planning in advance, it should be possible to incorporate small
changes to the design that would make new buildings a place where bats and birds can still find a
home.

UNIT-IV SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Sustainable architecture is architecture that utilizes environmentally conscious design techniques.

Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing
economic and political issues of our world.
In the broad context, sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact
of buildings by enhancing efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and
development space. The idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions
and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations. This can be framed in the
context of a conscious approach to energy and ecologicalical conservation in the design of the built
environment
Careful selection of environmentally sustainable building materials is the easiest way for architects
to begin incorporating sustainable design principles in buildings. Traditionally, price has been the
foremost consideration when comparing similar materials or materials designated for the same
function. However, the off-the-shelf price of a building component represents only the
manufacturing and transportation costs, not social or environmental costs.
In reality, a material is only considered a renewable or sustainable resource if it can be grown at a
rate that meets or exceeds the rate of human consumption.

Principles of Sustainable Design

To educate architects to meet this goal of coexistence, we have developed a conceptual framework.
The three levels of the framework (Principles, Strategies, and Methods) correspond to the three
objectives of architectural environmental education: creating environmental awareness, explaining
the building ecosystem, and teaching how to design sustainable buildings.
We propose three principles of sustainability in architecture.
Economy of Resources is concerned with the reduction, reuse and recycling of the natural
resources that are input to a building.
Life Cycle Design provides a methodology for analyzing the building process and its impact on
the environment.
Humane Design focuses on the interactions between humans and the natural world.
These principles can provide a broad awareness of the environmental impact, both local and global,
of architectural consumption.

Sustainable building materials

Some examples of sustainable building materials include recycled denim or blown-in fiber glass
insulation, sustainably harvested wood, Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, concrete (high and ultra high
performance roman self-healing concrete), panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed
earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linnen, sisal, seegrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fibre
plates, calcium sand stone, locally obtained stone and rock, and bamboo, which is one of the
strongest and fastest growing woody plants, and non-toxic low-VOC glues and paints.

Embodied energy content

Scalar total of energy input required to produce a
product and transporting them to the building site.

Features of Sustainable Building Materials

There are three groups of criteria, based on the material life cycle, that can be used in
evaluating the environmental sustainability of building materials. The presence of one or more
of these features in building materials make it environ- mentally sustainable
Pollution Prevention Measures in Manufacturing
Pollution prevention measures taken during the manufacturing process can contribute significantly
to environmental sustainability. Identical building materials may be produced by several
manufacturers using various processes. Some manufacturers are more conscientious than others
about where their raw materials come from and how they are gathered. While all industries are
bound to some extent by government regulations on pollution, some individual companies go far
beyond legal requirements in ensuring that their processes pollute as little as possible.
Selecting materials manufactured by environmentally responsible companies encourages their
efforts at pollution prevention. Although these products may have an initially higher off-the-shelf
price, choosing products that generate higher levels of pollution exploits the environment.
Packaging that is environmentally sound can be a pollution prevention feature, as the way in which
a product is packaged and shipped affects the total amount of waste it generates.
Water is used in large quantities in many manufacturing processes, especially in the production of
paper, cement, and metals. This wastewater is often released directly into streams and can contain
toxic substances. Dye used for coloring paper and carpet fiber are examples of environmental
contaminants that escape freely into the waste stream.
By becoming aware of which manufacturers use environmentally sustainable manufacturing
methods, specifying their products, and avoiding goods produced through highly polluting methods,
architects can encourage the marketing of sustainable building materials

Waste Reduction Measures in Manufacturing

The waste reduction feature indicates that the manufacturer has taken steps to make the production
process more efficient, by reducing the amount of scrap material that results. This scrap
may come from the various molding, trimming, and finishing processes, or from defective and
damaged products. Products with this feature may incorporate scrap materials or removed
them for recycling elsewhere. Some industries can power their operations by using waste products
generated on-site or by other industries. These options reduce the waste that goes into landfills.
Reducing waste in the manufacturing process increases the resource efficiency of building
materials. Oriented strand board and other wood composite materials are made almost entirely
from the waste produced during the process of milling trees into dimensional lumber. Kilns used to
dry wood can be powered by burning sawdust generated on-site, reducing both the waste that
leaves the mill (to be disposed of in landfills) and the need for refined fossil fuels. Concrete can
incorporate fly ash from smelting operations. Brick, once fired, is inert, not reacting with the
environment. The firing process can be used to encapsulate low-level toxic waste into the brick,
reducing the dangers of landfill disposal. Water used for cooling equipment or mixing can be filtered
and reused rather than discharged into the waste stream.

Recycled materials
Sustainable architecture often incorporates the use of recycled or second hand materials, such as
reclaimed lumber and recycled copper.
The reduction in use of new materials creates a corresponding reduction in embodied energy
(energy used in the production of materials). Often sustainable architects attempt to retrofit old
structures to serve new needs in order to avoid unnecessary
development. Architectural salvage and reclaimed materials
are used when appropriate. When older buildings are
demolished, frequently any good wood is reclaimed, renewed
and sold as flooring. Any good dimension stone is similarly
reclaimed.
Many other parts are reused as well, such as doors, windows,
mantels, and hardware, thus reducing the consumption of
new goods.
When new materials are employed, green designers look for
materials that are rapidly replenished, such as bamboo,
which can be harvested for commercial use after only 6 years
of growth, sorghum or wheat straw, both of which are
waste material that can be pressed into panels, or cork oak,
in which only the outer bark is removed for use, thus
preserving the tree.
When possible, building materials may be gleaned from the
site itself; for example, if a new structure is being constructed
in a wooded area, wood from the trees which were cut to
make room for the building would be re-used as part of the
building itself.

Recycled Content
A product featuring recycled content has been partially or entirely produced from post-industrial or
post-consumer waste. The incorporation of waste materials from industrial processes or
households into usable building products reduces the waste stream and the demand on virgin
natural resources. By recycling materials, the embodied energy they contain is preserved. The
energy used in the recycling process for most materials is far less than the energy used in the
original manufacturing. Aluminum, for example, can be recycled for 1020% of the energy required
to transform raw ore into finished goods.
Key building materials that have potential for recycling include glass, plastics, metals, concrete or
brick, and wood. These generally make up the bulk of a buildings fabric. The manufacturing
process for all of these materials can easily incorporate waste products. Glass, plastics, and metal
can be reformed through heat. Concrete or brick can be ground up and used as aggregate in new
masonry. Lumber can be re-sawn for use as dimensional lumber, or chipped for use in composite
materials such as strand board.
The embodied energy of a material refers to the total energy required to produce that material,
including the collection of raw materials. This includes the energy of the fuel used to power the
harvesting or mining equipment, the processing equipment, and the transportation devices that
move raw material to a processing facility.
A revision of a manufacturing process that saves energy will reduce the embodied energy of the
material. Conventional materials with a high embodied energy can often be replaced by a material
with low embodied energy, while using conventional design and construction techniques

Lower volatile organic compounds

Low-impact building materials are used wherever feasible: for example, insulation may be made
from low VOC (volatile organic compound)-emitting materials such as recycled denim or cellulose
insulation, rather than the building insulation materials that may contain carcinogenic or toxic
materials such as formaldehyde.
To discourage insect damage, these alternate insulation materials may be treated with boric acid.
Organic paints may be used. However, a common fallacy is that "green" materials are always
better for the health of occupants or the environment.
Many harmful substances (including formaldehyde, arsenic, and asbestos) are naturally occurring
and are not without their histories of use with the best of intentions.
A study of emissions from materials by the State of California has shown that there are some green
materials that have substantial emissions whereas some more "traditional" materials actually were
lower emitters.
Thus, the subject of emissions must be carefully investigated before concluding that natural
materials are always the healthiest alternatives for occupants and for the Earth.
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) can be found in any indoor environment coming from a variety of
different sources. VOCs have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility, and are suspected of
causing sick building syndrome type symptoms. This is because many VOCs have been known to
cause sensory irritation and central nervous system symptoms characteristic to sick building
syndrome, indoor concentrations of VOCs are higher than in the outdoor atmosphere, and when
there are many VOCs present, they can cause additive and multiplicative effects.
Green products are usually considered to contain fewer VOCs and be better for human and
environmental health. A case study conducted by the Department of Civil, Architectural, and
Environmental Engineering at the University of Miami that compared three green products and their
non-green counterparts found that even though both the green products and the non-green
counterparts both emitted levels of VOCs, the amount and intensity of the VOCs emitted from the
green products were much safer and comfortable for human exposure.

Waste management
Minimal construction waste during installation reduces the need for landfill space and also provides
cost savings. Concrete, for example, has traditionally been pre-mixed with water and
delivered to the site. An excess of material is often ordered, to prevent pouring delays should a new
shipment be needed.
This excess is usually disposed of in a landfill or on-site. In contrast, concrete mixed on-site, as
needed, eliminates waste, and offers better quality control. Designing floor intervals to coincide with
the standard lengths of lumber or steel framing members also reduces waste. Taking advantage of
the standard sizes of building materials in the design phase reduces waste produced by trimming
materials to fit, as well as the labor cost for
Waste takes the form of spent or useless materials generated from households and businesses,
construction and demolition processes, and manufacturing and agricultural industries. These
materials are loosely categorized as municipal solid waste, construction and demolition (C&D)
debris, and industrial or agricultural by-products. Sustainable architecture focuses on the on-site
use of waste management, incorporating things such as grey water systems for use on garden
beds, and composting toilets to reduce sewage. These methods, when combined with on-site food
waste composting and off-site recycling, can reduce a house's waste to a small amount of
packaging waste.
Materials sustainability standards
Despite the importance of materials to overall building sustainability, quantifying and evaluating the
sustainability of building materials has proven difficult. There is little coherence in the measurement
and assessment of materials sustainability attributes, resulting in a landscape today that is littered
with hundreds of competing, inconsistent and often imprecise eco-labels, standards and
certifications.

This discord has led both to confusion among consumers and commercial purchasers and to the
incorporation of inconsistent sustainability criteria in larger building certification programs such as
LEED. Various proposals have been made regarding rationalization of the standardization
landscape for sustainable building materials
Use of Natural Materials
Natural materials are generally lower in embodied energy and toxicity than man-made materials.
They require less processing and are less damaging to the environment. Many, like wood, are
theoretically renewable. When natural materials are incorporated into building products, the
products become more sustainable.
Local Materials
Using locally produced building materials shortens transport distances, thus reducing air pollution
produced by vehicles. Often, local materials are better suited to climatic conditions, and these
purchases support area economies. It is not always possible to use locally available materials, but if
materials must be imported they should be used selectively and in as small a volume as possible.
For instance, the decorative use of marble quarried halfway around the world is not a sustainable
choice. Steel, when required for structural strength and durability, is a justifiable use of a material
that is generally manufactured some distance from the building site.
Water Treatment/Conservation
Products with the water treatment/conservation feature either increase the quality of water or
reduce the amount of water used on a site. Generally, this involves reducing the amount
of water that must be treated by municipal septic systems, with the accompanying chemical and
energy costs. This can be accomplished in two ways: by physically restricting the amount of water
that can pass through a fixture (showerhead, faucet, toilet) or by recycling water that has already
entered the site. For instance, graywater from cooking or hand- washing may be channeled to flush
toilets; captured rainwater may be used for irrigation

Use of Non-Toxic or Less-Toxic Materials

Non- or less-toxic materials are less hazardous to construction workers and a buildings occupants.
Many materials adversely affect indoor air quality and expose occupants to health hazards. Some
building materials, such as adhesives, emit dangerous fumes for only a short time during and after
installation; others can contribute to air quality problems throughout a buildings life.
By selecting materials with lower or nonexistent levels of these materials, environmental health
problems can be avoided and the need for expensive air scrubbers reduced.
Renewable Energy Systems
Building sites are surrounded by natural energy in the forms of wind, solar radiation, and
geothermal heat. Renewable energy systems can be used to supplement or eliminate traditional
heating, cooling, and electrical systems through the utilization of this natural energy. Components
that encourage day lighting, passive and active solar heating, and on-site power generation are
included in this category. Solar power can be utilized in many forms, both for heating and
production of electricity.
In many parts of the country, wind power is a feasible way to generate electricity and pump water.
Active solar or geo-thermal heat requires outside electricity for pumps but still saves energy in
comparison to the operation costs of traditional mechanical systems.
Longer Life
Materials with a longer life relative to other materials designed for the same purpose need to be
replaced less often. This reduces the natural resources required for manufacturing and the amount
of money spent on installation and the associated labor. Durable materials that require less frequent
replacement will require fewer raw materials and will produce less landfill waste over the buildings
lifetime.

Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is an important feature in making a building material environmentally sustainable.
The ultimate goal in using energy-efficient materials is to reduce the amount of generated energy
that must be brought to a building site. The long-term energy costs of operating a building are
heavily dependent on the materials used in its construction. Depending on type, the energyefficiency of building materials can be measured using factors such as R-value, shading coefficient,
luminous efficiency, or fuel efficiency. Preferred materials slow the transfer of heat through a
buildings skin, reducing the need for heating or cooling. Quantitative measurements of a building
materials efficiency are available to help in the comparison of building materials and determining
appropriateness for certain installations.
Building placement
One central and often ignored aspect of sustainable architecture is building placement. Although the
ideal environmental home or office structure is often envisioned as an isolated place, this kind of
placement is usually detrimental to the environment. First, such structures often serve as the
unknowing frontlines of suburban sprawl. Second, they usually increase the energy consumption
required for transportation and lead to unnecessary auto emissions. Ideally, most building should
avoid suburban sprawl in favor of the kind of light urban development articulated by the New
Urbanist movement. Careful mixed use zoning can make commercial, residential, and light
industrial areas more accessible for those traveling by foot, bicycle, or public transit, as proposed in
the Principles of Intelligent Urbanism. The study of Permaculture, in its holistic application, can also
greatly help in proper building placement that minimizes energy consumption and works with the
surroundings rather than against them, especially in rural and forested zones.

Properties of sustainable materials

Durability:
The durability of materials is an important factor in analyzing a buildings life-cycle costs. Materials
that last longer will, over a buildings useful life, be more cost-effective than materials that need to
be replaced more often. By looking at durability issues, the selection of initially expensive materials
like slate or tile can often be justified by their longer life spans.
Low Maintenance:
Maintenance consumes a significant portion of a buildings operating budget: over the buildings
lifetime, maintenance can easily exceed the original construction costs. This includes the cost of
labor, cleaning/polishing materials, equipment, and the replacement of items. Less frequent
cleaning of materials reduces the exposure of the building occupants and janitorial staff to cleaning
chemicalsthis is especially important for surfaces or systems that must be cleaned with
petroleum-based solvents.
Reusability
Reusability is a function of the age and durability of a material. Very durable materials may have
many useful years of service left when the building in which they are installed is decommissioned,
and may be easily extracted and reinstalled in a new site. Windows and doors, plumbing fixtures,
and even brick can be successfully reused. Timber from old barns has become fashionable as a
reclaimed material for new construction.
Recyclability
Recyclability measures a materials capacity to be used as a resource in the creation of new
products. Steel is the most commonly recycled building material, in large part because it can be
easily separated from construction debris by magnets. Many building materials that cannot be
reused in their entirety can be broken down into recyclable components.

Biodegradability
The biodegradability of a material refers to its potential to naturally decompose when discarded.
Organic materials can return to the earth rapidly, while others, like steel, take a long time. An
important consideration is whether the material in question will produce hazardous materials as it
decomposes, either alone or in combination with other substances.
Guidelines for material selection
---Minimize resource quantity
Build less,
materials which ensures reduction of scrap
materials, find alternatives to reduce the thickness of walls, storey heights in tendon with the
intended function and performance
---Maximize use of renewable materials
wood, plant fibres, geotextiles and other resources
---Selection of low energy materials & standard construction systems
reducing the embodied energy costs involved in the whole life of the building
use of lime pozzolana/ gypsum mortars/plasters in place of cement mortars, soil or stabilized soil
blocks or sand lime blocks over burnt clay bricks, light weight concrete blocks over dense concrete
blocks
---Select materials based on their life cycle costs
At the initial capital investment review the life cycle cost requirements or the avoided future costs
for the material for O&M requirements

---Maximize the use of regional/locally manufactured products

Best fit options as per the climate suitability and specific construction requirements for that
particular region
allow significant reduction in transportation (with delivery radius <100 kms) contribute to low
embodied energy consumption and life cycle costs
---Materials with reusable & recyclable potential
Use materials, which are manufactured from waste or recycled materials, products which can be
reused
Eco friendly construction:
Eco-friendly, or ecological, construction is building a structure that is beneficial or non-harmful to the
environment, and resource efficient. Otherwise known as green building, this type of construction is
efficient in its use of local and renewable materials, and in the energy required to build it, and the
energy generated while being within it.
Eco-friendly construction has developed in response to the knowledge that buildings have an often
negative impact upon our environment and our natural resources. This includes transporting
materials hundreds or thousands of miles, which has a negative impact in the energy required to
transport them, and also in emissions of hazardous chemicals from a poorly designed building that
creates, and traps them.

The Range of Ecologically Built Structures

Many options are now available to those wishing to design and build an eco-friendly dwelling.
Architects, engineers and builders worldwide are now using construction techniques that have been
developed throughout human history, in response to local environmental concerns and the physical
resource opportunities available, coupled with 21st century technological refinements.
These range from rammed earth construction, which involves clay-based material mixed with water
and then rammed into brick or solid wall form, suitable in hot and dry climates, to straw bale
houses, literally using bales of straw as the core structure. Straw is a great insulator, is a breathable
material that filters the air passing through it, and contrary to expectation, is fire-resistant when
compressed. And it is low cost.
Other options are so-called earth ships, which use recycled car tyres filled with earth as the
buildings walls, or Yurts or Gers, the semi-permanent nomadic tents of Inner Asia, that utilise local
wood, wool and canvas, to literally live on, with the land. These examples can be seen as
development that has a low impact upon the environment, which utilize and blend in with the local
environment, and could be dismantled and moved easily.
Features of Ecological Building and Some Techniques
In more conventional building construction, it is how technology and building materials merge and
create ecological resources that are the key to green success, as well as using simple and readily
available materials.
For example, using pulped recycled paper for roof insulation is a simple but highly effective
ecological resource. The damage to human health from asbestos insulation, laid out in rolls in
thousands of UK homes, is now well known. Asbestos also takes hundreds of years to decompose
in landfill.

Other features of an ecological building might include :

1.The varied use of solar panels for domestic hot water heating,
2.Water conservation, possibly including biological waste water treatment and re-use, and the
simple collection and recycling of rainwater for garden use,
3.Low energy light bulbs, which can last up to 100 times longer than regular bulbs,
4.Cellulose insulation (like the paper in the above example),
5.Non-toxic or lead-free paints and wood preservatives,
6.Locally-grown and harvested timber from sustainably managed forests.
Sustainable campuses:
Campus design is the process of careful site planning. It involves the strategic placement of
buildings, streets, walkways, gathering social areas, and greenspaces. Campus design is
composed of both natural and artificial landscapes. A successful campus design is a functional and
efficient environment that meets the diverse needs of an academic institution.
Green space is a significant component of campus design. It includes landscaped natural areas
composed of trees and vegetation. Green spaces contribute to ecological diversity and
environmental integrity. This includes the effective management of these spaces, in order to
maintain biodiversity and visual appeal.
In order to fully integrate all of the areas of sustainability on campus, a master plan is necessary.
Oversight is essential. Make sustainability part of a campuss philosophy and vision. Design all new
campus projects with the goal of incorporating them into the campus's sustainability program.
Develop A Campus Master Plan
1.Preserve Green Space
2.Minimize on-Campus Driving
3.Maintain Indigenous Plant life
4.Preserve Solar Access
5.Perform Impact Reviews of All Expansion Plans

Develop A Campus Master Plan

In order to achieve sustainability on the large scale, all development on a campus must be
coordinated. Moreover a campus can much more effectively implement its sustainability goals if it
develops an overall plan of action. In any future plans for campus development. make sustainability
a top priority. Create short-term (3-5 yea
Preserve Green Space
Wherever possible, maintain existing vegetated areas on campus. Build on any brown fields before
developing on green spaces, such as grass or forest. Forests sequester carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and often constitute or maintain the local ecosystem. Fields and forests also diffuse
solar radiation, unlike black- tops which tend to increase local temperatures. Open fields and forests
on college campuses to act as recreational spaces and living laboratories.
Minimize on Campus Driving
As of 2004 33% of all green house gas (GHG) emissions came from vehicles. Reducing on- and
off-campus use of fossil-fueled vehicles may consequently represent a significant contribution to a
campuss environmental impact. The best way to minimize driving on campus is to promote the use
of other forms of transportation. Incorporate means of storing bicycles on campus. While bike racks
may be cheap and efficient, bike lockers are much preferable because of added security. Maintain
bike paths and greenways. Universities with multiple campuses should promote efficient shuttle
operations or encourage students to use public transportation rather than their own vehicles.
Greenways can also be used to link campuses and encourage walking or biking. Make walking on
campus safer by locating roads and parking facilities away from major on-foot routes. Call boxes
along all walkways and bike paths can also increase safety.

Maintain Indigenous Plant Life

There are several advantages to the use of indigenous plant life. Local plants have evolved to local
conditions; thus, they do not require as much watering (if any) as would some non-native species.
Invasive flora and foliage can also decrease biodiversity in the local ecosystems as local vegetation
may not be able to compete with non-native species. The effects of such invasion work their way up
the food chain as local animals may not be able to use introduced species as food sources. Using
indigenous plant life avoids these potential problems. For campuses that already use a number of
non-native species, restoration of the local ecology is great opportunity to improve campus
sustainability.
Preserve Solar Access
Orient all new building to take advantage of the sun through photovoltaics, passive or active thermal
systems, or day lighting. When constructing new buildings and planting trees on campus, preserve
necessary corridors of solar radiation to optimize the use of these systems. When using passive
solar heating remember that deciduous trees block sunlight and heat in the summer and let solar
radiation heat buildings in the winter. PV or heat collectors should ideally be exposed to the sun for
as long as possible throughout the day. Make sure development does not significantly reduce the
possible exposure of these systems by thoughtlessly building high on the horizon. Perform Impact
Review of All Expansion Plans
In all future on-campus development, create an assessment of the environmental impact that would
result from the planned project. Use simulation studies to determine the level of ecological damage
caused by a project. Clean Air Cool Planets eCalculator can be used to establish a baseline level of
air pollution impact and estimate the increase of impact caused by future development. Utilize
green building codes in design (LEED, CHPS, or ENERGY STAR) to reduce the impact of new
projects. Plan ways to counterbalance potential impacts of buildings, roads, parking lots, and other
infrastructures. For example, parking lots can be designed with multiple layers of gravel, sand, and
tar to filter any surface runoff before it enters ground water. When impact is unavoidable, attempt to
create offsets- for example, when campus electrical use results in the production of green house
gases (GHGs).

Consider carbon sequestering and set aside land for carbon sinks in the form of green spaces, or
consider programs such as Reforest the Tropics to establish carbon sinks in other areas of the
world. rs) and long-term (10 - 50 years) plans which set specific targets and define strategies to
meet those goals. Institutionalize sustainability by making it the responsibility of one or more
individuals or departments to actualize sustainability on campus. One possible strategy in order to
achieve this might be to create a department of sustainability on campus.
Sustainable neighborhoods:
A sustainable neighborhood is a place where people want to live now, and in the future. It is a
neighborhood that is socially, environmentally and economically healthy; a place that is safe, well
planned and built to last.
Sustainable neighborhoods:
1.are socially cohesive and diverse, with a mix of housing types and employment opportunities
2.give priority to walking, cycling and transit
3.encourage energy efficiency
4.promote efficient use of resources
5.have residential areas located close to recreational and commercial services with pedestrian and
cycling connections
Nowadays, there has been much debate around the need for sustainable neighbourhoods. But what
is a sustainable neighborhood exactly? Why are neighborhoods important and why is sustainability
crucial at this scale?
A sustainable neighborhood is a mixed used area with a feeling of community. It is a place where
people want to live and work, now and in the future. Sustainable neighborhoods meet the diverse
needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high
quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of
opportunity and good services to all.

Sustainable district planning aims to accomplish long-term socially, environmentally and

economically feasible communities by focusing on:
Governance
Well managed neighborhoods with effective and inclusive participation, representation and
leadership.
Transport and Mobility
Well connected communities with good transport services and communication linking residents to
their work places and services (health, education, recreation, commercial areas etc). Residents
should be able to assure as many of their needs as possible within walking distance from their
homes. A street pattern should take the form of a continuous web with paths linking one place to
another. Good public transport infrastructure is essential in order to limit car use.
Environment
Providing the opportunity for people to live in an environmental friendly way (low energy
consumption or passive buildings, minimised waste generation, recycling, use of natural and
environmental friendly materials, minimising water consumption etc) and enjoying clean, safe
surroundings.
Economy
A flourishing and lively local economy.
Services
Availability of public, private, community and voluntary services which are accessible to all
residents.
Equity
Fair for each resident and for both present and future generations (decent homes at prices people
can afford, services reasonably priced for all, public open spaces accessible to all).
Diversity
Create socially cohesive and diverse communities through a mix of social categories (mix of
housing types and employment opportunities, shared community activities by all) and mix of
generations.

Mixed used
As a crucial difference to existing suburbia areas which are often zoned (keeping separately
residential areas from industrial and commercial quarters), a sustainable neighborhood offers mix of
functions (living, working, making use of recreational and commercial areas).
Identity
Active, inclusive and safe with a strong local culture and other shared community activities; provide
the sense of community and belonging that many residents seek. Therefore, each neighborhood
needs a clear centre (a place where residents can find shops, social and cultural activities etc).
Citizens and residents participation, cooperation and involvement
Residents need to interact and be involved in the co-creation of their neighborhood and they need
to have a say on the way their community is managed. Neighborhoods do more than house people;
they form a support for wider activities, providing
many of the social services that link individuals with
each other, giving rise to a sense of community.
The quest for more sustainable communities and
neighborhoods requires that we look at qualities
such as these and that we investigate what can be
done both in the suburbs and cities to give a boost to
different areas. We need to work from the centre
outwards, layer by layer, starting by reconnecting the
innermost neighborhoods which are only minutes
on foot from lively centres.

Natural Insulation Materials

The Application of Lime in Building:
Lime putty
Lime mortar: this is lime putty mixed with sand. This can be used to bed in
masonry, and is also used in pointing or rendering brickwork, and for general
plastering use.
Lime wash: this is lime putty diluted in water. This is used to paint internal and
external walls. A pigment can be added to create a colour wash.
Natural Insulation Materials
Sheep's Wool
Wood Fibre
Flax and Hemp
Cellulose

Types of Green Roof

While there is no standard classification for green roofs, they can be divided into two
basic types:
Intensive Living Roofs - these incorporate plants from between 1 to 15 feet high,
including shrubs and trees. They require deep levels of soil to support them and a
weight-loading roof. They support a high level of plant and wildlife diversity, but
require on-going maintenance and extensive irrigation. They are not suitable for most
domestic buildings.
Extensive Living Roofs - these incorporate low-lying plants from 2 to 6 inches high.
They require only a few inches of soil to support them, and only need a low weightloading roof. They are low maintenance and can be used for any kind of roof,
including sheds, garages, houses, balconies, extensions and outhouses, and also
commercial buildings.