Sustainability has always been a passion of mine, yet, I have not had the opportunity to design a building with sustainable principles in mind. What makes a building sustainable?
The book “Cradle to Cradle” offers an answer to this question. It details a sustainable design philosophy that incorporates the lifecycle of a product as part of a larger system during its conceptualization. This approach considers where materials come from and where they will go after their use. When applied to architecture, this means viewing buildings as products whose components participate in a “nutrient” cycle, which would require a radical shift in how we design. This method, known as “cradle to cradle” design, contrasts with the conventional “cradle to grave” approach, where products are discarded without regard for their impact on industrial or natural systems.
Material choice is crucial in cradle-to-cradle design. Materials must fit into either a technical or biological nutrient cycle. Every part of the building should either become a nutrient for another process (technical) or biodegrade into nutrients for other living organisms (biological). In nature, all products, whether waste or byproducts, become nutrients for other creatures. Adopting this principle in material choice means abandoning commonly used materials like concrete and steel.
Concrete, for example, is not sustainable because it cannot be effectively reused to create new concrete, and its production emits large quantities of carbon dioxide. Steel, while recyclable and capable of being infinitely reused, also has a high carbon footprint during production.
A key consideration in material sustainability is the carbon footprint associated with its manufacture. A material does not conform to sustainable design principles if its creation involves the production of substances that cannot be reused or are incompatible with biological cycles.
Wood, and even more so bamboo, are better choices as their production is compatible with natural systems. Buildings made primarily from these materials can biodegrade or serve as raw material for new products at the end of their life. This is important because, although concrete buildings are durable, most are demolished within 50-100 years due to obsolescence or new developments. Hence, using concrete as a default material is not ideal.
Wooden buildings, on the other hand, can last for centuries when well-maintained and designed. Their biodegradability is a feature rather than a flaw, as they do not result in unusable rubble but rather they can become food for insects or fungi after their use. Alternatively, they can be reused to make furniture, tools, or even new buildings.
By rethinking our approach to building materials and adopting the principles of cradle-to-cradle design, we can create structures that are not only sustainable but also in harmony with natural systems. This shift requires us to move away from traditional materials like concrete and steel and instead embrace renewable, biodegradable options such as wood and bamboo. These materials offer durability and versatility while ensuring that our buildings can seamlessly return to the environment or be repurposed at the end of their life cycles.
This design philosophy really makes sense to me, and I've been very nerdy about it ever since reading this book. I want to apply it to my design practice, but that would mean refusing to design using certain building materials and committing to sustainable materials, designs and practices. That would be a challenge, but with my goal ultimately being to use my creative skills to make the world a better place, it is a challenge I will take on eventually.
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