Sustainable Lifestyle
ENERGY & CO2
Recorded by Sofie Pelsmakers, images by Essi Nisonen
KEY READINGS
Energy, People Buildings: Making Sustainable Architecture Work, Kimpian, J., Hartman, H., Pelsmakers, S., RIBA Publishing
Designing for the climate emergency, a Guide for Architecture Students, Pelsmakers, S., Donovan, E., Hoggard, A., Kozminska, U., RIBA
Building Management Systems: their role in energy and indoor climate resilience. Castano De la Rosa, R., et al, ARF
Systemic Inequalities in Indoor Air Pollution Exposure in London, UK, Ferguson et al, Buildings and Cities 425–448DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.100
The Meaning of Convenience in Smart Home Imaginaries: Tech Industry Insights, Aagaard LK, Buildings and Cities 568–582DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.93
INSPIRATIONAL BUILT EXAMPLES
AART, Home for Life, Lystrup, Denmark
Mole Architects – Cavendish House, Cambridge, UK
Baumschlager Eberle - 2226, Lustenau, Austria
SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE
Good design can encourage a more sustainable, healthier lifestyle, also reducing energy use and CO2 and local pollution. For example, green and shared infrastructures promote social and physical activity and active lifestyles (e.g. taking stairs, good public transport/walking and cycling connectivity), also lead to lower energy use. The way people use buildings dramatically influences their energy consumption, and hence also affects a building’s carbon footprint. But behaviour is usually not accounted for in predictive energy models, yet this is essential to understand so that we achieve energy and CO2 reductions in reality. Smart technology systems are increasingly developed but are still in early stages and they do not always reduce energy use and CO2 , and they risk excluding people. To ensure that systems and the building work as intended and that user needs are met and low energy lifestyles are supported in reality, you need to undertake an inclusive and democratic design process with users and different stakeholders, focus on user experiences and user friendliness, and that you obtain performance feedback post-competition. This holistic approach is key to promoting low-energy, sustainable living. While these are real-life project processes, as a student you can create a democratic design plan, a Performance Risk Plan and user or care and maintenance manuals.