Came across a good educational advertisement in the April 2012 edition of the Architectural Record about socially sustainable design for a greener future.
The article talks about things to consider when renovating which haven't been taken into consideration before like accommodating children with autism and dual sensory impairments or design with extra care and detail for seniors so they can live independently and with dignity. Using alternate material to cement, which requires high energy and CO2 is one way of rethinking building construcion for greener structures. Geothermal energy and using existing material for renovations of buildings is another way of reducing our carbon footprint. Read more here

Continuing the subject of humanitarianism like my previous post, I wanted to showcase a few products that have been developed like partitions made out of paper that can be used in disaster relief circumstances or homeless shelters etc. In those very tough times, some privacy can give the victims a sense of dignity when they have lost practically everything.
A Canadian design company called Molo Design has developed these softwalls using magnets and fire retardant kraft paper to provide temporary enclosures in a large area like a shelter or exhibition ground. This article was in the March 2012 edition of the Architectural Record and can be read here

Another great product that has seen changes is the disaster relief packaging. A Danish born designer was inspired by the Haiti earthquake to develop the relief package itself to be transformed into furnishings by using only a knife and basic instructions on the package.  This can be read in the March 2012 edition of the Architectural Record here

Another product in the same edition of Architectural Record is the Biolite HomeStove which reduces the deaths due to smoke related diseases that kill nearly 2 million people every year. This stove will also serve as an affordable source of electricity to charge devices such as LED lights and mobile phones. Read here

LuminAid is a cheaper and lighter alternative to the more expensive solar lighting products in the market that can be sent in bulk to the disaster relief areas in the world. This product uses an integrated solar panel to provide about 4-6 hours of light. LuminAid is now in production and  is sent to more than 25 countries like India, Uganda and Laos. Read more here

I have always wondered if we, as architects, have directly or indirectly contributed to global climate change. When clients approach an architect, they probably do not know much about energy efficiency or sustainable architecture. Do we, as a norm, educate them on the various aspects of the issue? Perhaps not. It isn't always easy for architects to convince clients of the importance of building sustainable structures as the initial costs currently are pretty high and it may be many years before clients see a return on that investment. The architect thus walks a tightrope between justifying the impact of this change on the world and the fear of losing a client to other commercially-minded competitors.

But, in recent times, architects have started devoting more of their time and effort into large humanitarian works, thus making a name for themselves while earning commissions for the work done. This, in turn, encourages more architects to work for the less fortunate, do pro bono work and make a living despite having to eat into their savings to pay their bills. If not for this shift in paradigm, architects and architecture would be affordable only to the 1% of the population, while disregarding the rest of the 99% who badly need the social changes brought about by the work that architects do. Further insight can be drawn from this article in the March 2012 edition of the Architectural Record and can be read here

Building Science is still an unknown  subject even for the building industry so for the layman it is a huge mystery. Building science can be defined as the field of study in construction that focuses on air, heat, moisture, fire, lighting and the structure. Architects do the work now along with the design but there is no formal training in this field. A good building science not only requires every part of the building to work in a cohesive manner but it needs to be worked out in advance and not after the structure is built. That's where the expert comes in play. An eye opening article on this issue is written in the FineHomeBuilding  Spring/Summer edition 2012 and can be read here

With the terrible hurricane Sandy that devasted the East Coast of the US at the end of October,2012, everyone realizes that building codes need to be changed to allow for more resilient structures in hurricane prone areas of the country. The Miami-Dade Count Hurricane Code is the most robust of all county codes in the country and we need to see that the codes there need to be adopted in almost every other place in the country.
A nice perspective on this is written in the Fine Home building Spring/Summer 2012 Issue and can be read here

Shopping for windows and doors...sounds simple but buying it for a home or office requires a lot of investigating...Glass has come a long way from the olden days of just blocking the wind and allowing light in. As the energy conscious builders are looking into every aspect of building to optimize the use of heat and light naturally, glazing for windows and doors have taken a new dimension altogether.
The low emissivity glass which is typically used for insulated glass which lets light in but reduces heat is the choice of glass for energy efficient windows. Understanding different types of coatings which let in UV rays or infra red heat-rays and visible light is essential in choosing the right window for you. An informative article in Fine Homebuilding oon this topic can be read here