Sustainability in Practice
1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 AIBD P-CE; AAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the AANB, as per their CE Guidelines; AAPEI 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the AIBC, as per their CE Guidelines.; MAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the NLAA.; This course can be self-reported to the NSAA; NWTAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; OAA 1 Learning Hour; SAA 1 Hour of Core Learning
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss design solutions that can improve building performance and reduce embodied carbon.
- Understand practices for sourcing sustainable materials and the processes behind their extraction, manufacture, and fabrication.
- Describe the strategies to incorporate renewable-energy systems as key element of project design.
- Discuss Passive House and net zero approaches for commercial and institutional projects.
This course is part of the Biophilia Academy
Sustainable Quarrying
By Matthew Marani
Photo © Franken-Schotter
A renaturalized quarry.
At first glance, stone quarrying appears to be a messy business. Great mounds of earth are excavated and massive blocks of limestone, marble, sandstone, and nearly every other type of stone under the sun are carved and carted off for dressing and further finishing. But, once all that dust settles, the harvest and use of natural stone is an environmentally low-impact proposition when compared to manufacturing building materials like concrete and steel, among others, owing to fewer steps in transportation and production. Quarriers and fabricators, both stateside and around the world, are implementing additional practices and strategies to reduce their environmental impact even more.
Structural Stone
By Matthew Marani
Photo © Olivier Mathiotte
Saint Dizier Market Hall.
Load-bearing masonry isn’t exactly novel—stereotomic construction spans continents, cultures, and epochs. Despite stone’s ubiquity—throughout history and as a resource—steel and reinforced concrete have supplanted it as go-to structural systems, largely relegating the natural material to the task of facade cladding. That shift has had severe environmental implications—the production of steel and concrete produce over 15 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions annually.
David Lake and Ted Flato in Conversation
By Joann Gonchar, FAIA
Photos © Josh Huskin
Lake (left) and Flato (right) started their practice in 1984. Harold Simmons Park, in Dallas, is set to start construction next year.
David Lake and Ted Flato founded Lake | Flato Architects in 1984 in San Antonio. They started their practice designing ranch houses in Texas, but in the intervening decades have created a diverse portfolio that includes schools, workplaces, and mixed-used developments spread throughout the country. The duo, whose projects are characterized by an attention to craft and a respect for nature, are the joint recipients of the 2024 Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Known for ultra-high-performing buildings, Lake | Flato has earned 15 AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Awards—more than any other firm—and it achieved the first Living Building certification in Texas. RECORD deputy editor Joann Gonchar spoke with Flato and Lake about their design philosophy and approach to practice.
Book Excerpt: 'The Future is A Journey to The Past'
Photo © Iago Corazzo
TECLA—a portmanteau of the words technology and clay—is a 3D-printed housing prototype (left). The dwelling unit, developed by MCA in collaboration with the World’s Advanced Saving Project, can be erected in 72 hours by extruding and layering mud in sinusoidal forms.
Mario Cucinella is founder of Milan- and Bologna-based Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA), as well as the SOS School of Sustainability. In his most recent book, the Italian designer has compiled an architectural autobiography of 10 travel stories, spanning from Iran and China to Ireland and the Maghreb, that offer lessons on how architecture can learn from the natural world. “They are not nostalgic tales,” he says, “but the discovery of a past in which to seek lots of information that can help us in our journey to the future.” Following is an excerpt from the preface.