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WEEK 12:

Sustainable design is the future of architecture, in the year 2050, we will have adapted skyscraper made of wood beams, that help with the recycling of air. There will be buildings that look like trees and regenerate them self’s, they create an ecosystem of biomimicry, which is a way at learning from and emulating natural forms, which will considerably change and mitigate co2 emissions. They will be buildings grown that blend into the landscape and all this design system will do what plants and trees have been doing forever. We will be recreating nature. A merge between architecture and biology.

The city of Boston being a coastal city will face different challenges in the design realm, due to the projected path we are currently in, ocean will rise affecting parts of the city, a big drive will have to be the use of embodied energy which focuses on the person itself rather than trying to heat up a scape, this will allow to greatly reduce the energy usage, all year round. 

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WEEK 11: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY

There’s a wave of people moving to cities in search of a different type of lifestyle, the move has amassed an undertaking in the shifting of the urban landscape. The new urbanism pertains to the build of mixed-use development, which creates a walkable and transit-served center, which reduces the number of cars on the roads, less pollution, that the mix of a high-performance building and human access to nature helps with a more efficient and greener city. This compactness helps create a diverse ecosystem that is self-sustainable.

Having access to everything you need within walking distance, reduces stress-related problems, it helps with the reduction of carbon footprint, improves health since your walking everywhere. It allows for better social interactions since it allows to have a better connection with the surrounding and the people who inhabit the space.

 I believe the Fenway/Kenmore area is a great example of sustainable urbanism in Boston, there have been a few new mixed-use building apartments open, the area has a lot of food places and it has access to shopping and everything one needs, a  marketplace as well as walkability to public transportation and access to green spaces. The area is on a course to be great.

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Post-Occupancy Week7

Benchmarks/ targets: To be able to analyze all energy usage systems, it helps with setting a standard that can be implemented in the design. The target analyzation helps with the planning of energy saving, acquisition of a 0-energy goal. This will also help in creating a database where it can perhaps be implemented in other projects.

The traditional: This approach only tries to address the bare minimum by code standards, which is to set a certain percentage less energy, not going far enough into the use/model to really see the energy usage. Traditional approach only utilizes a fraction of the energy-using systems in the building, also the models are only about an assumption of the operations of the building and its managing practices. It does not go far enough to create change. 

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Indoor Environment. 06

One of the main aspects of the human condition is the comfort, we reside in many diverse locations that require certain energy prone guzzling equipment to keep us comfortable. As we move into a more conscious society, researching and technology have help and will pave the way to helping us reduce our energy consumption, the CBE (Center for the built environment) is testing a new more efficient temperature control system that does not require heating or cooling a big space. The Personal Comfort System uses low wattage, that is embedded into a system of chairs, which can target the most thermally sensitive parts of the body. This system allows for direct control of the person, without needing to maintain one temperature for an entire building or floor.

  Reason for poor indoor Air quality,

Moisture and dirt in ventilation systems (Dirt Build-up, poor management),

Indoor Contaminant source (Building materials and furnishing),

Contaminates for indoor equipment and activities (people and activities),

Inadequate Ventilation Rate (lack of compliance with codes and standards, installation or maintenance

problem and space use changes, without assessments for new conditions),

Ineffective Filtration and air cleaning, an absence of not regulating some of the aspects mention

can lead to poor indoor air quality (IAQ).

Some applications which can help in the design for better Air quality,

Manage the design and construction process, Control moisture, Limit Entry of Outdoor

Contaminants, Capture and Exhaust contaminants from building equipment, Concentration

thought Ventilation. Filtration and air cleaning, and any other advance ventilation approach.

There are many things to consider achieving a better environment for those who occupy a

building, space, this is just some notes to look out for.

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Materials..05

There a big push for transparency in the way things are made, healthier building products. Like the labeling on food products, this is translating to building product with the idea to make this information accessible to builders/designers, groups like Green building advocacy have been pushing for a system beyond simple labeling, (cherry picking) instead they want a more complete health-hazard list on construction products. What this is doing is helping people, manufactures, designers, builders, asses products, in order of a better environmental conscious approach.

 Designers should understand the embodied energy product, which helps identifies the total energy output consumed by a product throughout its life cycle. This is important for the industry because the Embodied energy of a building product accounts for the footprint of a building's energy for approximately 15-20 years of its life cycle. In order to produce/create greener building, we need to account for the building materials and their impact on the planet.

 I think I would start with the student government, in order to get the attention of many of the students at the BAC, this will allow me to start an advocacy group where we can advocate for a cleaner more conscious material environment.  

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-Monitoring water use is to collect information on the total amount of water drawn from all sources. It enables a company to understand water use patterns and identify potential inefficiencies. Monitoring also helps essentially in setting reduction targets in water use.  Energy monitoring is important because it enables you to reduce costs. Also, this reduces carbon footprint. 

-I agree with the idea, It is part of the design problem.  Especially with our technology advances our materials have a better efficiency rating. I believe that most architectural firms are designing with energy modeling software that helps.

-Yes, We have a limited amount of fresh water for consumption, and desalination is an expensive process. It is a design problem, especially in places that are having an extreme impact due to climate change. Water should be taken into account, recycle, reuse.

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I am listening podcast Jamin Creed Rowan, “The Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition” (U. Penn Press, 2017) on https://castbox.fm/vb/50359478. Give it a listen.