How to do sustainable architecture? Learn from history!
Not just since Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future, there is general agreement that we need to decarbonize our world. Most people think of transportation first, of argiculture or even dietary. There is less awareness of the role that our living spaces play in energy consumption and sustainability.
If we look at any pie chart, from Edward Mazria’s 2002 survey of US Energy Information Administration data to the most recent International Energy Agency report: the greatest source of emissions, the largest slice of any pie chart is attributable to the construction and operation of buildings – at least a third of all emissions globally. Operating buildings consumes 40% of all energy in the US, in high-density areas like NYC up to 70%. This is perhaps unsurprising: Buildings are the place where we spend most of the hours of our day, both waking and sleeping.
From vernacular traditions to the International Style
Yet as recently as 100 years ago, nearly every region of the world was on a different trajectory. Vernacular houses in places as varied as Asia, North America and Europe were built with materials sourced locally, constructed to respond to the respective climate. Building was slow and required a great deal of skill, and styles evolved over centuries. Each of these vernacular traditions, from Iroquois longhouses to mud huts of Nigeria, from the hanok of Korea to half-timbered houses of central Europe and saltbox homes of New England, expressed the culture in which they were embedded. Design elements in these structures responded to climactic demands, such as multiple sets of sliding doors in Japanese machiya that are well suited for both cold winters and hot, humid summers, reducing the energy needed for heating and cooling, or windcatchers in some North African and West Asian buildings, which funnel wind into dwellings during the most scorching summers, providing passive ventilation.
Vernacular Archtiecture
How did we get from traditional structures, built primarily using local materials and knowledge passed from generation to generation, to where we are now? There are many factors that played a role: rapid population growth in many regions coupled with the need for low-cost housing, increased urban density and the professionalization of the building trades. But from the perspective of architectural history, two things stand out: the rise of modernist architecture and the widespread use of reinforced concrete.
Modernist architecture, also known as the International Style, refers to a style of building that moved back and forth from Europe in the 1930s to North America and elsewhere, and that remained dominant into the 1970s. Its manifesto, conceived by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, can be summarized in five points, each corresponding to an element of design. Le Corbusier, who believed buildings could be mass produced like automobiles, called them the ‘Five Points of Architecture’: concrete pillars (‘pilotis’) for support, an open plan interior for flexible living arrangements, a light, non-loadbearing façade, horizontal ribbon windows, and roof gardens. Central to all five of Le Corbusier’s points is the use of reinforced concrete for stability, and for enabling flexibility in the interior and façade.
Concrete is the second most consumed material in the world after water, responsible for at least 5 percent of global emissions. Dollar for dollar, it requires twice the energy to produce as does steel, around 2,775 MJ per cubic meter. And while it is incredibly durable when installed correctly, exterior walls made of concrete as used in mid-century modernist buildings are not particularly energy efficient. Building with concrete also created opportunities for prefabrication and construction at scale, which made buying a home more affordable and faster for families, and more profitable for builders. With oil and gas cheap and plentiful in many places, the new model with its advances in heating and cooling felt decidedly more – modern.
From a contemporary perspective, this seems absurd, antiquated rather than modern. Yet the relationship between modernist architecture and sustainability is complex. On one hand, the jettisoning of old traditions and remaking of architecture was idealistic and socially minded, as it always envisioned creating housing for people of all walks of life. At the same time, as vernacular traditions were rejected, so were centuries of cumulated local knowledge.
Awakening consciousness
Modernism is not a monolith, of course, rather a label that groups together the works of architects who were active around the same time, some of whom were familiar with and drew influence from each other. There are outliers even from the beginning. Frank Lloyd Wright, considered a pioneer of modern architecture, constructed the Frederick C. Robie house in 1910 as one of the first concrete and block structures in the United States. It notably features sustainable, ‘vernacular’ elements such as a central hearth, passive cross-ventilation and overhanging eaves to regulate solar gain. Even Le Corbusier, who only designed a single dwelling that perfectly embodies his Five Points (the Villa Savoye in Poissy, which is widely considered unlivable), took a more measured view in later works. But architecture and urban design had shifted towards glass-and-concrete structures, and it would not be until the end of the 20th century until sustainability made its way back into the general consciousness.
The origins of sustainable architecture as we understand it today trace back to the environmental awareness of the 1970s, following the energy crises and growing critiques of modernist design. Architects began to reassess the environmental cost of glass-and-concrete structures. Visionaries like Edward Mazria were instrumental: His 1979 The Passive Solar Energy Book helped popularize energy-efficient design strategies. The movement evolved through the integration of passive solar heating, thermal massing, and site-sensitive design. By the 1990s and 2000s, concepts such as life cycle assessment, green materials, and carbon neutrality emerged.
In their 2024 study, the architectural researchers Beyaz and Erçin set out four pillars of sustainability in architecture: social, cultural, economic and environmental, effectively blending modernist social awareness with local truths of the vernacular, as well as environmental sustainability.
Towards a sustainable future - Five steps
There are a wealth of resources available on sustainable architecture. The following steps can help architects, builders and potential homeowners make their dwellings more energy efficient and in harmony with the environment.
1. Close the building material cycle
The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub estimates that 5.5% of emitted CO2 can be sequestered over the next 30 years by recycling concrete from demolition to build roads. It can even be used to construct new buildings. An example is the stunning Hanil Cement Visitors Center and Guesthouse, by the Korean firm BCHO Associates [link http://www.bchoarchitects.com/ws/]
2. Increase the efficiency of buildings
A study by the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems found that only 10% of a building’s life cycle energy consumption came from construction and maintenance, 90% from living in it. By increasing energy efficiency, over 60% of energy can be saved. Double or triple glazed windows, heat pumps and smart home technology can help.
3. Learn from vernacular buildings
Vernacular building styles offer lessons for sustainable architectural design and development. By using local materials, adapting to regional (and changing) climates, and focusing on the community in which dwellings are built, vernacular architecture offers numerous solutions for builders to draw upon. Traditional building techniques also foster cultural identity and enhance regional and local resilience in times of climate change and increased natural disasters.
4. Employ best practices
Architecture 2030, founded by Edward Mazria, has launched an extensive library
of case studies, ranging from regions and cities to buildings and materials as a
resource for professionals with actionable, science-based strategies for designing
climate-resilient and carbon-neutral environments. 2030 Palette.
5. Follow a standard
Each of the international building standards, from LEED and Energy Star to BREEAM and PassivHaus or the Living Building Challenge, offers criteria for making a dwelling more efficient and sustainable, although some are stricter than others.
From the increased use of natural materials such as rammed earth and mass
timber to technological advances like solar water heating and photovoltaics,
architects and builders are making strides towards building homes and offices that
are more sustainable than ever.