BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
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Building the Future
Climate Change
Vs
Sustainable Architecture
"Cities can be warmer than the surrounding countryside, especially at night. Sometimes by up to 10°C for major cities," Valery Masson urgently emphasizes. This phenomenon, known as the urban heat island effect, significantly impacts densely populated urban areas. Our website aims to address this pressing issue by exploring how sustainable architecture can mitigate climate change and improve urban living conditions. Sustainable architecture focuses on designing and constructing buildings that minimize environmental damage and enhance the health of its inhabitants. In cities, where buildings cluster together, the heat intensifies compared to rural areas. Utilizing materials and machinery, the construction process further affects the environment and the planet's health. While building sustainably might seem like a straightforward solution, it is a complicated issue because of the scarcity and cost of eco-friendly materials as well as restrictive guidelines regarding reusing materials. One major challenge of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions. As Valery Masson notes, "The reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHGs is an issue that is relatively well appropriated by the urban actors." These issues remain unresolved despite early awareness, particularly since the Rio Protocol in 1992. Integrating green building strategies into our construction processes effectively mitigates climate change. This approach can transform urban environments into spaces where residents enjoy the benefits of sustainable living amidst nature. However, addressing the complex issues of at-risk urban environments requires more than just funding; it demands innovative, actionable solutions. We must empower policymakers, architects, and urban planners to prioritize sustainable practices and make substantial changes in their designs and regulations. Our website will delve deeper into the urban heat island effect, green certifications, examples of sustainable architecture, and our sustainability plan. By embracing sustainable architecture and urging our policymakers, architects, and urban planners to act, we can significantly impact climate change and enhance urban living for all.
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01
Urban Heat Island Effect
Heat is a major factor. It harms a city's well-being. Valery Masson emphasizes, "Cities can be warmer than the surrounding countryside, especially at night. Sometimes by up to 10°C for major cities." Rising temperatures are genuinely concerning to the urban resident's well-being and the health of the surrounding environment. The cause for concern is that cities are vast greenhouse gas emitters due to the high concentration of human activities, especially industries such as transportation, which entails explicitly high energy consumption. Some misconceptions need to be addressed, as Valery states below.
Misconceptions:
"First, even if air pollution and poor air quality events occur most often at the same time as the UHI situations, warming of the air in the city is not due to pollution. It is true that pollution particles, especially aerosols, can absorb solar radiation and heat the nearby air. However, the height of the atmospheric layer in which are the aerosols (typically 1 km deep) and the concentration of the aerosols is not enough to produce significant effects." "Second, cities are large emitters of CO2. As the CO2 contributes greatly to the greenhouse effect at a global scale, it is often assumed that the CO2 released over the city is the cause of the UHI. However, the timescale of global warming is on the order of a century, while that of the UHI is 1 day. The processes at play are much more rapid." "Third, the UHI is not caused by the release of heat by human activities (traffic, industry). Even if this process does impact air temperature in cities (contrary to the two preceding ones), the impact is small. Heat releases due to air-conditioners and domestic heating is slightly more significant, typically up to 1°C for very dense urban areas (as in Tokyo). This is much less than the 10°C UHI that can exist some nights."
Causes of UHI
Now that misconceptions of the urban heat island effect have been discussed, its causes are more realized to myself, being educated on the topic. The materials used in cities, such as (brick, concrete, asphalt, etc.) do tend to absorb heat more than vegetation. Watch video titled "Urban Heat Island Effect" for an experimental video of how heat affects artificial vs natural materials. Valery states, "Even if the UHI is maximum at night, the sun provides the energy source. The crucial element there is that the urban surfaces are artificial, and most of the time impervious." While the cities tend to absorb heat, it is not the same in the countryside. Figure 1.1 shows how, during the day, the rural areas have an evaporation of vegetation transpiration and upward heat flux. However, for cities, heat is released by human activities, causing an upward influence of heat. However, the heat is also stored in materials, so at night the heat released radiates upward.
Impacts to Urban Residents and the Future
Impacts to Urban Residents: Cities are known to exacerbate the impacts of climate change. Since global warming is occurring due to rising temperature, fewer cold episodes occur in densely populated urban areas. Worry regarding higher mortality rates are concerning since tons of heat is emitted and stored at night. Valery states, "Human mortality is then increased in cities because warm nocturnal temperatures (> 25°C at night) limit physiological recuperation of the human body at nighttime." The nocturnal temperature led to more deaths. For example, when Paris experienced a heat wave in 2003, an agglomeration study indicated an increase of 15,000 deaths. Also, poor air quality and pollution tend to worsen these heat waves. Future Impacts: Cities evolve according to demography, economics, society, and politics. The future of this evolution in urban environments is bleak if action is not taken to reduce the UHI effect. Valery Masson raises the alarm in these fast-growing cities stating "Rural areas in Hong Kong have experienced temperature increases by 0.2°C per decade while urban areas have increased by 0.6°C per decade. The same phenomenon has happened in Shanghai since 1975 (Zhao et al., 2006)." Since buildings have expanded in both height and width, wind speed has been affected, reducing dispersion of pollutants, increasing heat sensitivity experienced.
Adaptation Stratagies and Conclusion
Air conditioning: When adaptation strategies come to mind, you may not think of air conditioning. In fact, Western Europe installed the most air conditioning units in 2003. Valery states, "Under a 2100-projected climate, depending on the intensity of the GHG emissions during the century, heat wave intensity may make it necessary to have more air-conditioners (e.g., Lemonsu et al., 2014)." Even though this seems like the right solution, it is not compatible with mitigation strategies; this results in higher energy consumption, which subsequently leads to more greenhouse gases emitted. Architectural Features: However, some solutions that work are architectural features like white roofs, which absorb less heat. Masson states, "Mediterranean white villages (with walls and roofs in white bright paint) are traditional architectural ways to insure cool houses." This solution limits heat storage during the day, diminishing nighttime heat radiation. Urban Planning: Another solution is urban planning, which can be implemented on a large scale. For example, daily energy consumption is reduced in the transportation industry since shorter distances are traveled. Also, the job of urban planners is to design city layouts. However, according to Valery, "they also have drawbacks, with higher air pollution, more people exposed to the UHI, and also may be less desirable as many people are seeking a better quality of life in less dense areas, which has been observed by the suburban sprawl in North American and European cities." These factors highlight the challenges of balancing urban growth with environmental and social considerations. Vegetation: Architects and urban planners ought to implement this vegetation strategy on an immense scale. Vegetation does address many of the problems. According to Valery, "Masson et al. (2013) showed that changes in peri-urban (typically 50 km around the city in this case) agriculture and larger forests could reduce the UHI in Paris by 2–3°C." The changes show that vegetation lowers the heat, which addresses the main problem, the urban heat island effect. However, the downside is that vegetation needs water to make these changes in cities, and this is a problem for those in an arid climate with no external water supply. Valery also states, "When (reasonably) watered, small parks can be several degrees cooler than the urban fabric, and influence temperature several hundreds of meters away (Bowler et al., 2010)." An example of an arid climate is Australia. They can still use urban trees for roof greening, which provide shade and are much less likely to dry out during summer. Even though there are downfalls, there are still ways arid climates can deal with this. Conclusion:Given all the information on the urban heat island effect, you possess the key to understanding the basics of what we are fighting for. The next step is green certification, where the argument of sustainable architecture mitigates climate change originates.
02
Green Certifications
Mike Simon states, "A green building certification verifies that a building has met environmental, energy, human health, and other standards in its design, construction, and performance." This is an essential step in making a building sustainable. It is crucial to the architectural industry, which is tasked with causing the least amount of harm to the environment and climate change. Green certification is a set of rules and guidelines for designing and constructing sustainable buildings.
Types of Green Certification
Four common Green Certifications include LEED, WELL, The Living Building Challenge, and Energy Star. However, the most well-known and used is LEED. According to Mike Simon, "This comprehensive certification pays attention to all elements of sustainability from energy, air quality, lighting and light pollution, acoustics and noise pollution, transportation, materials, site management, and more," This boils down to all parts working together as one whole machine. There are four levels from the lowest rank to the highest: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. The higher the rank progresses, the stricter the process of building sustainable architecture.
Benefits
The benefit of green certification incorporates positive transformations such as reduced water and energy consumption. The minimized volume of waste results in a healthier environment, increasing urban residents' well-being. The ultimate goal of these certifications is first to serve the people who occupy the buildings. In the words of Simon and Jackson, "In the long run, the efforts to design a more efficient and comfortable building result in an increase in the property value and significant financial savings on utilities." The reduced carbon footprint, the financial savings recognized, model reputation, and benchmarking are just a few of the benefits gained by all. Jackson states, "Buildings are also a significant portion of the carbon footprint that we as humans put out into the atmosphere, and I think there's a personal responsibility that architects feel for doing their part to fight climate change." This implies that architects and other occupations that follow these issues closely, like urban planners, are key people who are duty bound both professionally and personally to limit climate change. By utilizing green certifications as a standard, they recognize the many benefits to the occupants and environment. "Multiple buildings that meet green certification will help build a reputation and set a benchmark for future buildings, which is a crucial action to support climate change mitigation.” Simon brings a perspective stating, "green building certifications as a "public statement" that project teams make to an external audience to improve their moral reputation." By announcing this public statement, the community urban residents buy into improving their moral responsibility by contributing their time and efforts to mitigating climate change. With community influence and recognition of their contributions, not only can we meet these sustainable standards of constructing green buildings but thrive and grow in a more environmentally cooperative future. Architects and urban planners must press on in persuading the community. The takeaway is that reputation and self-interest are significant parts of this equation.
Downsides
The road to green certification is good, however it is not all sunshine and rainbows. There are legitimate reasons why policymakers, urban planners, and architects require help to achieve this goal. According to Simon, "the certification methodologies often lack flexibility and can bring forth "quirky" conflicts in the reality of the design and construction of a building. This is one massive setback for architects because of heavy restrictions like materials, reusing materials, and machinery.” This is a challenge since each location has a unique set of conditions and resources resulting in architects building and designing each site accordingly. Simon states, "When you have a black-and-white certification process, you will find that its methodology can conflict with what makes sense for differing communities." Even getting certification is time-consuming and expensive due to registration fees, and its price varies depending on the project size. Since sustainable building requires constant monitoring by experts in the field, the project costs can quickly spin out of control increasing budgets hundreds of thousands of dollars. Large institutions are more amenable to deal with these setbacks. However, Jackson further states, "They have the expertise, they have staff, and they have resources to hire really talented consultants. For an individual homeowner, however, it is more daunting because it does require an engineer or an architect, and there is expense and time needed for that." Since it has become more mainstream, there is a sense that certification is less regarded and rewarded, which is supported by Jackson stating, "Fifteen years ago, there was a huge amount of PR about a building getting certified, but today, I feel like it's expected of us and is no longer 'the next big thing." One solution is to generate awareness of green certification increasing enthusiasm for both those who design and those who use it. Simon offers "governmental building codes are evolving, perhaps from the example of these certification programs, and they now require many of the standards previously found only in the green programs."
Solution
Given the issues of green certification, Jackson says, "We as planners are always asking ourselves, 'Do we actually need a new building? Are there better ways to use our resources?', and we often start there." As far as policymakers are concerned, this could solve cost issues. However, some guidelines restrict this. Even though many support the idea of reusing, it is almost impossible for designers to practice sustainability because of the limitations. Mitigating climate change is simply ceased because of the many regulations. Given the rules of green certification, climate change is reduced compared to previous practices, but it is slow going. One way to bring about change is for urban residents to pressure policymakers to allow more wiggle room or to rewrite some guidelines.
03
Examples of Sustainable Architecture
While many places in the world demonstrate sustainability in architecture and transportation, Singapore stands out as the leading green urban development. Its unique approach, as detailed in this article, can serve as a model for other countries, highlighting forward progress in traffic and green areas.
Public Transport and Traffic Regulations:
One way they have improved greenhouse gas emissions was by pushing for electric vehicles. There was a study done in 2011 by Rahman and Chin, according to Igini, "Despite its high population density and the significant land constraints, in the last few years the government has focused on implementing policies that were successful in reducing private vehicles' dependency, ensuring a smooth traffic flow, and maintaining an overall affordable transport network." The implementation of these policies allowed them to adapt quickly to the growing population in the transportation industry, modeling a sustainable transportation system. The study which is figure 1.2 displays how sustainable each practiced theme is from one to five.
Green Areas
One way they implemented green areas, according to Igini, "In early 2021, the Government of Singapore announced the audacious plan of building the avant-garde eco-smart city of Tengah, the western region of the island, which will be home to five residential districts and a total of 42,000 houses spread out over 700 hectares of land." The idea of this project is to resemble a forest town characterized by large green areas like public gardens and nature reserves. Even though Singapore has a relatively small population, the per capita emissions are high due to the greenhouse gases coming from air conditioning. Igini states, "To tackle this issue, urban planners are implementing a centralized cooling system to regulate the temperature in households, which they see as a more energy-efficient alternative to individual air-conditioning units." Singapore is known for how it tackles these issues, and according to Igini, "Indeed, according to the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), in 2020 nearly 47% of Singapore's land was covered in green space, making it a true 'garden city.'" Implementing strategies of centralized air conditioners have reduced greenhouse gases proving that these practices work to mitigate climate change.
Technology and Digitalism
Finally, they achieved such sustainability through the Smart Nation Program in late 2014. This year, Singapore led the digital revolution wave spreading all over southeast Asia. Igini states, "The program introduced a series of innovations across different sectors such as Strategic National Projects, Urban Living, Transport, Health, Government Services, and Businesses." The program succeeded in pushing them forward on the path toward sustainability in all fields, including architecture and design. Their advancement in healthcare and paperwork reduction to digital records was a considerable step in reducing greenhouse gases. Igini says, "According to data by US healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente, replacing the average outpatient paper-based record with a digital version or physical visits by video consultations would drastically reduce the generation of greenhouse gases, saving approximately 1.7 million tons of carbon emissions."
Conclusion
These examples glimpse a hopeful and sustainable future society. However, challenges including politics, politicians, and the citizens of these cities play a role in helping us follow suit of these optimistic cases. We may lack the tools and resources Singapore possessed, but we can see what Jurassic change looks like, how it can benefit us while mitigating climate change. So, this now leads us into the discussion of examples of how people are building sustainable cities in other countries.
Figure: 1.1
Figure: 1.2
Scores of sustainability indicators regarding Singapore’s public transport system, adapted from Rahman & Chin (2011)
Data From: Igini, Martina. “How Sustainable Cities like Singapore Succeed in Green Urban Development”.
Schematics of the energetics creating the urban heat island.
Image From:Valery, Masson. “Impacts of Global changes in Cities”
04
Sustainability Plan: Circular Economy
Sustainability Plan: The circular economy is reduced to the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The main goal is to reduce the use of materials to build any structure. According to Cutieru, "The prevailing economic model is linear and translates into raw materials being mined to manufacture components that are subsequently used and ultimately end as waste at the end of their lifecycle." The expected demand for raw materials is predicted to double by 2050. In 2020, the European Union published a comprehensive sustainability plan, which was a critical component of the Green New Deal. Aiming to mitigate climate change by 2050, this deal was approved in 2020. Following the three Rs, they are also created a market for secondary materials. According to Cutieru she further adds "The plan outlines the possible introduction of recycled content requirements for certain construction products, a significant paradigm shift for building codes for the construction sector. Additionally EU seeks to promote initiatives to reduce soil sealing and rehabilitate abandoned or contaminated brownfields." Look at Figure 1.3 Implementing policies regarding circular economy has resulted in a strong push on the urban planning front for self-sufficiency in energy, food production, and community engagement. Their goal is to have future-proof urban environments. Cutieru adds, "The architecture firm established a project development firm that would enable a co-creation process involving citizens and end-users. For the practice, getting people involved in the design and governing of their communities is one of the key steps in developing a circular economy." An example of this is the Schoonschip project, which is an innovative circular economy neighborhood in Amsterdam. They boast decentralized and sustainable energy, water, and waste systems and intelligent solar panels to trade energy among themselves. See image below:
Examples of Circular Economy
One trailblazer incorporating the circular economy plan into their society is the city of Prague. In 2019, Prague partnered with the Circular Economy movement in the Amsterdam-based organization. Together, according to Cutieru, they "analyzed local material flows and carbon emissions in relation to the local economy to identify the key industries where circular economy practices could be introduced." The end of the partnership resulted in a plan, which Cutieru states, "The resulting action plan translated into creating a network of Reuse points that process discarded elements such as appliances and furniture, collecting household food waste that is converted into biogas and implementation of circular agricultural principles on the farming land around the city." Taiwan: Another example of a circular economy is the Taisugar Circular Village located in Taiwan, which, according to Cutieru, "focuses on modularity to streamline assembly and disassembly and simplify the material bank database." The project has renewable energy systems, shared amenities, and a series of food production systems, including aquaponic. Product-as-service models, with elevators, lighting, furniture, and sanitary fixtures, are rented rather than purchased.
Sustainability Plan Image: Schoonschip by Space&Matter. Image Courtesy of Space & Matter
Image From: Cutieru, Andreea. “Circular Economy in Urban Design: Sustainability and Community Involvement”.
Figure: 1.3
Conclusion
The movement toward a circular economy is politically driven, which means we must convince and show policymakers that sustainability is not prohibitive by cost or effort. Cutieru further adds to this, "However, as illustrated by these few examples, architects, urban designers, and communities can take the initiative of translating the circular framework at the scale of an urban development, through interventions that not only contribute to forging the circular economy vision but advance knowledge in the field." This means the people who can take the initiative, like urban planners, architects, and community urban residents, should do so. Climate change is worsening yearly. To meet the end date goal of 2050, this solution must be urgently addressed and implemented into law by policymakers.
Cited Work Page
Valery, Masson. “Impacts of Global changes in Cities” Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, Nov.27.2017, 1st ed, CREDO Reference https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDgyNTc0Ng==?q=architecture+mitigate+climate+change&aid=14883, Accessed June 23 2024.
The author offers an in-depth examination of the key topic, which is how urban areas exacerbate climate change effects such as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This effect leads to increased temperatures caused by energy consumption. The examination expounds into other topics such as enhancement of impacts by cities, future impacts, coupled impacts, scientific challenges, and various strategies for adaptation and modeling. Urban actors, which are people and industries involved with urban governance, are thus empowered with these findings to better conduct and regulate urban behaviors and systems. Published in 2017, Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene by Elsevier Science & Technology is regarded as a trusted and well-known publication company. Furthermore, to offer more credibility, the author, Masson Valery, having earned a PhD in this field, is a member of the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM). Other credited sources are noted from within the scientific community like Ren et al, Ng, Lemonsu et al, Bechtel et al, and Stewart and Oke. Even though the sources range from 2003 to 2015, they provide a historical perspective on the topic. Thus, they can still be referenced to argue important points about relevancy. Having a benchmark to note for a variety of sources for the years 2003-2015 will not only reveal improvement or deterioration, but will also offer historical context, comparing new with old. While investigating urban environments and cities, this source will further impact research into providing detailed insight. Also, emphasizing policy and market trends will assist my examination because of the wide range of sources over the years. The points noted exhibit how the text will vastly improve the argument.
Simon, Mark, and Cathy Jhonson. “Green Building Certification”. Yale Sustainability. Oct. 19.2020, Yale Experts Explain Green Building Certifications | Yale Sustainability, Accessed June 27 2024.
The author of this article provides us with information on green certifications while the benefits and downsides to the certifications are explained. Subject matter includes achieving zero waste and emissions, which is the purpose of these certificates. They are clear in their mission at Yale, which is building “The Living Village.” The largest project under the living building challenge aims to have a zero-waste result exemplifies how projects can be completed to further mitigate climate change. The article pertains to the big question in the argument essay, which is green certifications. Because of Yale’s dedication to credibility, the university has rigorous research requirements. Part of the center book, “Architects and Planners,” One author of this article, Mike Simmon studied architecture at Yale and has experience in the field, starting in 1972 to the present. Also, Mike Simmon is a part of the Centerbrook Architects and Planners. The second author is Cathy Jackson, the Director of Planning Administration, whose role is to update sustainable design requirements at Yale. This source will add credence to my argument that green certificates provide the audience with more knowledge and understanding to grasp what the paper is arguing. Also, by providing examples of success as well as the pros and cons, viable information will be learned such as educating the audience to be aware of the cons, which achieves a well-balanced view on this topic.
Cutieru, Andreea. “Circular Economy in Urban Design: Sustainability and Community Involvement”. Arch Daily. Mar.4 .2024, Circular Economy in Urban Design: Sustainability and Community Involvement | ArchDaily., Accessed June 27 2024.
The main point of this article is talking about a comprehensive sustainability plan called a Circular Economy Action plan published in 2020 by the EU. This pertains to my big idea question in that article provide a plan that layouts such concepts as ecosystems and biodiversity, health, and wellbeing, economic and financial issues, social and governance, circular and smart, energy, food, and nutrients, and finally water. This source contributes more information of what falls under the category mitigating climate change. There are also examples of how this strategy is implemented in other parts of the world. Andreea Cutieru holds the position of an architect at AECOM, which adds credibility in this field. The author is also a part of the LEED Green Associates which partners with the Green Building Council, which offers the relevant knowledge on this topic of sustainable architecture and mitigate climate change. This source from the Arch Daily offers good credibility, which will give the audience comfort knowing they are a part of the Green Building Council since they are knowledgeable in the given topic. By presenting exhibits of the plans and examples implemented by other countries, proof of concept is achieved by their success. While supplying the information, it will persuade the audience more convincingly because of the success in the application of the methods described.
Fortune Magazine "How Architecture Can Slow Climate Change Path to Zero" YouTube, Uploaded by Fortune Magazine, Oct 31 2022, How Architecture Can Slow Climate Change | Path To Zero (youtube.com) Accessed July 9 2024
National Geographic. "Causes and Effects of Climate Change." YouTube, Uploaded by National Geographic, Aug 28 2017, Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic (youtube.com). Accessed July 9 2024
Museum of Science "Urban Heat Island Effect" YouTube, Uploaded by Museum of Science, Mar 16 2022, Urban Heat Island Effect (youtube.com). Accessed July 9 2024
USGBC( U.S. Green building Council) "What is Green Building" YouTube, Uploaded by USGBC, Oct 16 2015, What is green building? (youtube.com) Accessed July 9 2024
Going Green "What is The Most Sustainable City in the World" YouTube, Uploaded by Going Green, May 9 2020, What Is the Most Sustainable City in the World? (youtube.com). Accessed July 9 2024
Igini, Martina. “How Sustainable Cities like Singapore Succeed in Green Urban Development”. EARTH ORG. Oct. 24.2022, How Sustainable Cities Like Singapore Succeed in Green Urban Development (earth.org) Accessed July 13 2024.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is imperative to influence the masses to embrace sustainable architecture to mitigate climate change. The challenges posed by the urban heat island effect, coupled with the benefits of green certifications and successful examples of sustainable cities, underscore the critical role of innovative design in creating resilient urban environments. As we advocate for sustainability plans like the circular economy, urban residents, architects, and urban planners must unite in this cause, pressing policymakers to act.
While immediate policy changes may not occur, the groundwork for transformation is within our grasp. Equipped with knowledge and compelling evidence, you have the power to engage in meaningful conversations with decision-makers, emphasizing the long-term benefits of sustainable practices. Together, we can influence policies that foster a greener future, ensuring our cities thrive while addressing the pressing challenges of climate change. The time to act is now! Let us channel our collective urgency into advocacy and inspire change at every level.