On surplus

Defining the field of sustainable architecture

We have become accustomed to thinking that consumerist architecture is the norm and sustainable architecture is a small patch-up sub-field of modernist marketplace architecture.

Two fields of knowledge operate on and effect surplus:

 

Vernacular architecture

Includes natural building and ecological design—sustainable architecture processes that function throughout history without surplus.

 

Environmental design

Includes green architecture, sustainable landscape, sustainable planning, sustainable urban design and regional resource conservation—low or zero energy use technologically sustainable architecture that strives for balance.

12 principles to reduce surplus

These twelve principles can be combined, as suitable, into synthesized solutions for various locations, users and climates that meet cultural needs with available materials under local conditions.

Six historic principles (vernacular trends)

  • Siting

  • Shade;

  • Ventilation;

  • Earth shelter, 

  • Thermal inertia; and 

  • Air lock entrances.

Six new principles (environmental design processes)

  • Scale (footprint), balance of environmental, social, and economic costs, insulation, design of future alternatives; 

  • On-site water collection and waste disposal; 

  • Solar water heating panels; 

  • Photovoltaic and wind electricity generation; 

  • Recycling and use of local and durable materials; and 

  • On-site growth of food, fuel and building materials.

 

Adapted from Hotten, R., Diprose, P. (1994) Very Simple Sustainability: A condensed version of the Sustainable Architecture Primer. Available at: http://www.aloha.net/~laumana/