Reshaping the Built Environment: Ecology, Ethics, and Economics
378
Reshaping the Built Environment: Ecology, Ethics, and Economics
378Overview
Because of the profound effects of the built environment on the availability of natural resources for future generations, those involved with designing, creating, operating, renovating, and demolishing human structures have a vital role to play in working to put society on a path toward sustainability.
This volume presents the thinking of leading academics and professionals in planning, civil engineering, economics, ecology, architecture, landscape architecture, construction, and related fields who are seeking to discover ways of creating a more sustainable built environment. Contributors address the broad range of issues involved, offering both insights and practical examples. In the book:
- Stephen Kellert describes the scope of the looming ecological crisis
- Herman Daly explains the unsustainability of the world's economic system and the dangers inherent in the current movement toward globalization
- John Todd describes the evolution of wastewater processing systems inspired by natural systems
- John Tillman Lyle discusses the importance of landscape in the creation of the human environment
- Randall Arendt argues for a fundamental shift in land development patterns that would not only provide for more green space in new developments, but would also increase the profitability of developers and the quality of life for new home owners
- Thomas E. Graedel proposes the application of lessons learned from the emerging science of industrial ecology to the creation of "green" building.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781610913126 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Island Press |
| Publication date: | 05/10/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 378 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Reshaping the Built Environment
Ecology, Ethics, and Economics
By Charles J. Kibert
ISLAND PRESS
Copyright © 1999 Island PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61091-312-6
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Charles J. Kibert
The emergence of sustainable development as a major paradigm for human society brings with it numerous intellectual and operational challenges. The Brundtland Report definition of sustainable development, "... meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs ...," provides a complex direction that juxtaposes current behavior with long-term survival. Needs of both present and future generations must be based on two fundamental concepts: (1) the fair and just intergenerational allocation and use of natural resources, and (2) the preservation of biological systems function across time. The construct of human society designed to allocate and provide resources to people is the economy, which, at least for the production of material goods, depends almost entirely on nature for its energy and physical inputs. The built environment is a major sector of the economy, and to be sustainable it, like every other sector of activity, must examine its behavior in light of the imperatives and constraints dictated by sustainability. The unsustainable use of land, energy, water, and materials that is characteristic of construction industry must be changed from the present-day open-loop, cradle-to-grave model to a closed-loop system integrated with an overall industrial system that focuses on dematerialization, deenergization, decarbonization, and detoxification. This shift provides abundant challenges to the wide range of professionals engaged in producing homes, commercial and institutional buildings, industrial complexes, and the wide variety of systems comprising the infrastructure servicing and interconnecting the elements of the built environment. This volume describes some of the key current thinking of academics and professionals seeking to discover the path to sustainability in the built environment.
Insights
Construction industry, like other sectors of the economy, is at present an inefficient and wasteful activity that creates human habitat in a manner generally focused on profitability without consideration of its long-term impacts. In this volume, construction industry refers to the wide range of actors involved in the life cycle of the built environment: developers, planners, designers (including architects, landscape architects, and interior designers), engineers, builders, facility managers, supporting materials industries, and the demolition industry that removes the built environment at the end of its physical or economic useful life. The built environment consumes 40 percent of extracted resources in most industrial countries and 30 to 40 percent of generated energy and thus has a profound effect on the availability of natural resources for future generations. It has a particularly great responsibility to address its current behavior and change course to one that is sustainable.
The subject of sustainability or sustainable development is a complex one, and to explore it thoroughly requires a wide-ranging exploration of diverse subjects. Sustainability is about interconnections within and between several major systems: ecological, social, and economic. The subject becomes no less complex when the viewer is restricted to the subject of creating the built environment in which resource issues, environmental degradation, human health, building economics, community development, and many other issues are closely coupled and intertwined and must be at least partially unraveled for analysis and understanding.
Addressing the concept of sustainability in the creation of communities and buildings also entails dealing with a complex web of ecological, social, and economic issues. Humankind's habitat, as is the case with other species, is constructed by humans primarily for protection from the elements and for safety. Unlike species that rely on their endosomatic appendages (claws, teeth, tails) to build their habitat, man has the ability to make widespread use of exosomatic or human-made tools to create a wide variety of complex structures for habitat, work, play, and movement between the various locations for these activities: the built environment. The creation, maintenance, renovation, and exchange of elements of the built environment provide the economic element of the equation. In the United States the built environment creation process alone accounts for 7 to 10 percent of all economic activity, a significant portion of the total. Ecological interactions with the creation of the built environment are wide and deep. Nature provides all the goods and materials needed to create the fabric and working components; the land on which the buildings and infrastructure are located; the fuel to power the construction and run the resulting structures; the water for the occupants; and the mechanisms for absorbing, assimilating, and processing waste. In short, without nature and ecological systems there would be no resources for a built environment. The actual creation of the built environment has many negative impacts on the natural systems that are in fact so crucial to its existence: destruction of plants and wildlife habitat, solid waste generation, non-point source pollution, release of toxic materials, alteration of natural drainage systems, and water and air pollution. Building creation and operation is tied to power plant construction and operation; automobile access and use; connection of water, natural gas, and other utilities; solid waste generation; wastewater and stormwater processing and disposal; and many other human-made systems that impact natural systems.
Creating a sustainable built environment is a complex task requiring a far wider range of knowledge and experience than conventional practice. At its very roots, sustainability demands attention to the environmental and social contexts of the built environment. The interconnectedness of the built environment with the community and the health of its citizens can no longer be neglected by architects, engineers, building owners, and developers. Engaging a broad range of citizens and disciplines is the first order of business in this new movement, and the reshaping of the built environment based on sustainability depends on inclusion and interdisciplinary teamwork to succeed.
Organization
This volume addresses the broad range of complex issues connected to reshaping the process of creating the built environment. The roots of sustainable thinking and the reason for its rise in stature are environmental problems, damage to ecosystems, resource shortages, and social inequity; thus these topics must be thoroughly addressed for an understanding of alternative thinking to be uncovered. In addition, an attempt is made to deal with the peripheral issues in a manner proportional to their relative importance to the subject. To organize coverage of these concepts, this volume is divided into three parts.
Part I, "Foundations," provides essential background on creating a sustainable built environment.
The limits to sustainability are covered in Chapter 2 by Charles J. Kibert of the University of Florida. The physical and technical limits of nature and humankind's use of its abundant resources lead to the conclusion that sustainability is perhaps more a journey than a goal. Some of the frameworks for changing directions and the potential outcomes for redirecting the built environment onto a path of sustainable development are addressed.
Chapter 3 by Stephen R. Kellert of Yale University clearly articulates the looming crisis for the environment and its myriad ecological systems as they are impinged upon in an unsustainable manner by humankind. Human values themselves are being challenged as spiritual values come into conflict with human behavior in the form of irreversible destruction to natural systems
Ethics, the subject of Chapter 4 by Sarah van Gelder, editor of Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, is an essential element required for understanding sustainability and the role of the built environment in embracing sustainability principles. At its core, sustainable development is questioning the right and wrong of various courses of action and their effects on natural systems and future human generations.
Economics are of crucial importance in dealing with the subject of sustainability, both to demonstrate the ultimate advantages of creating a sustainable built environment as well as to demonstrate the greatly undervalued role that natural systems play in our economic system. In Chapter 5, Herman E. Daly of the University of Maryland provides insights into the unsustainable behavior of the world's economic system and the dangers inherent in today's much ballyhooed movement toward globalization.
Part II, "Content," addresses the major resource issues pertinent to the built environment: land, energy, materials, and water.
Perhaps the key to resolving the dilemma of overdependence on limited fossil fuel resources is the shift to widespread use of renewable energy resources by the built environment. In Chapter 6, Stephen J. Strong of Stephen Strong & Associates provides a vision of a built environment that mimics natural systems by converting abundant solar energy into electrical power through the integration of photovoltaics into the building fabric. He also addresses the role of other forms of renewable energy in a future less dependent on rapidly depleting nonrenewable energy sources.
Building materials are the subject of Chapter 7 by Nadav Malin of Environmental Building News. Materials are perhaps the most difficult issue in creating a sustainable built environment because the industrial subsystem producing them has paid little or no attention to the impacts of extraction, waste, and the ultimate fate of their products. Insights into these problems, potential solutions, and a methodology for selecting materials for use in the built environment are provided.
Water resources and the processing of wastewater from human activities often are the limiting factor in the creation of human habitat. Lessons gleaned from nature are discussed by John Todd of Living Systems, Inc., in Chapter 8, which describes the evolution of wastewater processing systems inspired by natural systems. The chapter details the principles and lessons learned in creating Living Machines—ranging in size from household systems to industrial wastewater treatment plants—that adapt the technology inherent in natural systems to benefit humankind.
Chapter 9 by John Tillman Lyle of the University of California–Pomona covers the importance of landscape in the creation of the human environment. Lyle's notion of a regenerative landscape uses nature as the model for human-produced landscapes and envisions a shift from the industrial model of a one-way flow of resources from source to sink to landscapes that behave in a cyclical manner in their use of energy, water, and biomass.
In Chapter 10, Peter Yost of the National Association of Home Builders Research Center provides new insights into reusing and recycling the waste generated during the construction and demolition phases of the construction life cycle. He provides an overview of lessons learned and practical approaches the industry can use to reduce waste during construction and make better use of the remnants of buildings at the end of their useful lives. He also discusses the emerging trend of Green Builder programs throughout the United States and how these programs can help stimulate the movement to a more resource efficient construction process.
Part III, "Process," describes the role of various actors involved in the life cycle of the built environment to include architects, planners, and the government.
Gail A. Lindsey of Harmony Design covers the subject of sustainable building design and the role of the architect in Chapter 11. In addition to ensuring that future buildings are resource efficient and healthy, architects need to reconsider their fundamental role in creating buildings that are inherently valuable and whose function and fabric contribute to a wholesome, human-oriented community that integrates with and respects nature.
In Chapter 12, David Orr of Oberlin College describes an essential character of buildings that is often ignored—that they can be instructive in their own right. This is especially true if they are designed to mimic natural processes and complement rather than destroy natural systems.
Daniel Williams of Florida International University views the built environment at large scale in Chapter 13 by addressing the need to consider its bioregional context. His thesis is that the planning of built environment elements should consider the model of natural systems functioning at large scale, where tasks such as water storage and purification, microclimatic control, and resource use and reuse are the result of natural forces that provide "free work." Applying these principles to infrastructure, utilities, and neighborhood patterns could free society from its dependence on conventional energy sources by taking advantage of the elegant designs provided by nature.
In Chapter 14, Randall Arendt describes the concept of conservation subdivision design. He argues for a fundamental shift in land development patterns that would not only provide for more green space in new developments but would also increase the profitability of developers and the quality of life of home owners. By reducing the size of individual land parcels and agglomerating the balance in land tracts that remain in their original condition, a wide variety of natural and farmland resources are retained to include mature woodlands, breeding/feeding grounds, and stream valleys. Cooperation among developers would result in larger contiguous tracts of land that enhance the natural and economic value of the resulting arrangement of built and natural land tracts.
In Chapter 15, Thomas E. Graedel of Yale University proposes the application of lessons learned from the emerging science of industrial ecology to the creation of "green" buildings. Using lessons learned from the automotive industry, he suggests a methodology for assessing the performance of buildings systems that would provide an easily understood picture of how building designs could be analyzed to determine those facets that are successful in terms of environmental performance as well as those that require additional measures to reduce their impacts.
Chapter 16 by Raymond J. Cole of the University of British Columbia describes progress in developing comprehensive building assessment systems that provide a scorecard for the environmental performance of individual buildings. He discusses the limitations inherent in first generation building assessment systems and how these shortcomings are being translated into newer methods that more closely link environmental performance with design criteria.
One of the key resources required to produce the built environment is land, and much of the land in urban areas has suffered from contamination due to industrial activities. In Chapter 17, William J. Trumbull of Chicago's Department of the Environment describes the city's innovative Brownfields Initiative, perhaps the most advanced program in the United States for recycling formerly contaminated industrial lands back into productive use. Using an approach informed by academic research, the Brownfields Initiative created a dialogue among government, business, and community representatives to develop public policy that is contributing to the revitalization of once blighted neighborhoods.
Ernest A. Lowe of Indigo Development describes the application of industrial ecology to the development of Sustainable New Towns in Chapter 18. Using firsthand experience gained in post-apartheid South Africa, he describes how new towns can be viewed as a whole system rather than a patchwork of individual initiatives and incremental developments. To accomplish this feat, environmental stewardship, self-governance, a strong and diverse economy, and lifelong learning must serve as the underpinnings of the entire planning process.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Reshaping the Built Environment by Charles J. Kibert. Copyright © 1999 Island Press. Excerpted by permission of ISLAND PRESS.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Foreword\Alex WilsonPreface\Charles J. Kibert
Chapter 1. Introduction\Charles J. Kibert
PART I. Foundations
Chapter 2. The Promises and Limits of Sustainability\Charles J. Kibert
Chapter 3. Ecological Challenge, Human Values of Nature, and Sustainability in the Built Environment\Stephen R. Kellert
Chapter 4. Environmental Ethics\Sarah van Gelder
Chapter 5. Uneconomic Growth and the Built Environment: In Theory and in Fact\Herman E. Daly
PART II. Content
Chapter 6. Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies\Stephen J. Strong
Chapter 7. Environmentally Responsible Building Materials Selection\Nadav Malin
Chapter 8. Ecological Design, Living Machines, and the Purification of Waters\John Todd
Chapter 9. Landscape: Source of Life or Liability\John Tillman Lyle
Chapter 10. Construction and Demolition Waste: Innovative Assessment and Management\Peter Yost
PART III. Process
Chapter 11. Building Values\Gail A. Lindsey
Chapter 12. Architecture as Pedagogy\David Orr
Chapter 13. Biourbanism and Sustainable Urban Planning\Daniel Williams
Chapter 14. Creating Greener Communities Through Conservation Subdivision Design\Randall Arendt
Chapter 15. Environmentally Superior Buildings from Birth to Death\Thomas E. Graedel
Chapter 16. Environmental Performance of Buildings: Setting Goals, Offering Guidance, and Assessing Progress\Raymond J. Cole
Chapter 17. The Chicago Brownfields Initiative\William C. Trumbull
Chapter 18. Sustainable New Towns and Industrial Ecology\Ernest A. Lowe
About the Contributors
Index