A case for the environment

Humans spend 80 to 90 percent of their day inside and studies show that a controlled indoor environment needs to provide similar characteristics to the natural environment. A 1999 study of daylight and indoor air quality conducted by the Herschong Mahone Group for Pacific Gas & Electric,¹;concluded that natural light and good indoor air quality have a direct impact on student performance. This research demonstrated a significant rise in reading and math test scores in daylit schools vs. non-daylit schools. Studies of the effect of daylight in health care settings, as well, demonstrate the benefits of daylight on human well-being.² Other researchers have concluded that there is also a positive link between daylight and worker productivity.³ There is, in fact, a growing body of evidence to encourage the architect to include daylight and natural ventilation in all projects. Window systems allow the architect to engage nature through design.

 

Students from the New York Institute of Technology designed a small space that feels larger through the use of an opening glass wall using heat mirror glass in the Washington, D.C., Solar Decathlon. Photo courtesy of Nana Wall Systems, Inc. and © New York Institute of Technology. Photograph by Andrea Brizzi

 

 

In addition, designers using operable windows can achieve credits through green rating and certification programs. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system provides credits for Indoor Environmental Quality and for Optimizing Energy performance based on designing for fresh air and daylight. LEED also provides credits for using products that incorporate recycled materials, and are manufactured within a local radius.

Sustainability is both the effect on the project of the component, and the life cycle impact of the making of the manufactured product. Many companies are changing their means of production, using recycled products, as well as recycling waste and reducing overseas manufacturing. Many are embracing recycling and waste policies that encourage both an increase in their bottom lines, as well as creating testaments to good stewardship. This is good news to designers who are committed to a focus on sustainable design.

One such manufacturer, for example, has developed new shipping crates made of recycled and recyclable materials, as well as continuing to add to their supplies of various certified wood products as frame alternatives. Ebrahim Nana of Nana Wall Systems, Inc. commented on research in Europe that is now evaluating materials for even higher environmental performance and better non-toxic coatings and finishes. Other companies participate in the EPA National Environmental Performance Track that establishes and tracks company goals for environmental improvements in products and manufacturing. Most provide an environmental company policy, identifying their company approach to the environment, which may include a life cycle analysis of their product.

 

Cosby Road High School, Midlothian, VA. Sunshades can be designed into a project or retrofitted as necessary. Photo courtesy of EFCO Corporation

 

 

In  Design by Climate, the 1962 text on environmental design, Victor Olgyay urged architects to use a bioclimatic approach to design. He taught architects an approach to designing with nature - using the elements of the microclimate, solar orientation, solar control and shading devices of each building location. In addition, the designer was instructed to understand air flow, and the principles of air stratification in buildings. Continued design development and research demonstrate that integrating daylighting and ventilation strategies into building designs results in projects that use less energy while creating healthier spaces for human performance.