Sustainable SItes
Sustainable Sites is one of the five main points in green building. The paper presents general principles of planning and green architecture in the Philippine setting, for the purpose of bringing the concept of sustainable development and green building design closer to the general public. It also highlights the almost forgotten values of homegrown passive cooling techniques and tropical design practices. While the professions of Architecture and Environmental Planning can be considered relatively young in this third world country, much of green building principles can be learned from our vernacular architecture, which existed long before our educational system was established and western standards became Filipino standards.
The presentation begins with an overview of planning as a discipline and as a concerted effort, its importance and consequences if taken for granted. There cannot be a green building without a sustainable site, which can only result from adherence to the planning process. In the advent of climate change and global warming awareness, we need to be reminded that calamites are only natural occurrences that turn into disasters when human settlements are involved. The design of settlements, and their site selection to begin with, are crucial for coping and survival.
The reduction of carbon footprint can be substantially addressed through an improved public transportation system that is complemented by pedestrian infrastructure and buildings as well. Thus, we need to be mindful of architecture and spatial planning that are biased against pedestrians, taking our tropical climate as an utmost consideration. More importantly, we also need to revisit the principles and innovate the techniques learned from our vernacular architecture to achieve energy efficiency in buildings. Surprisingly, these design solutions are quite simple, direct and practical.
Man is resilient. We may not have a chance to alter the course of nature, but there is always opportunity to turn a hindrance into a resource. Earth, as they say, is our only planet. Perhaps it is about time to stop treating land as “property” and start shifting our mindset from ownership to stewardship.
Seminar 14 Slides
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