The University of Arizona School of Architecture Sustainability Pedagogy Prepared by The University of Arizona School of Architecture Sustainability Pedagogy Committee
director Robert Miller, AIA, Professor committee Courtney Crosson, Architect, Professor of Practice Paul Reimer, Architect, Lecturer, Archon Professor Shane Ida Smith, PhD, Architect, LEED AP, Assistant Professor, chair Siri Trumble, Architect, Lecturer info http://capla.arizona.edu/soa-ustainability-pedagogy v.2015 September Image Credits Cover + Right:: P. Reimer photographs Focus Area Images: Water: J. DiMateo, Capstone, 2015 Wellness: A. Schwartz, Arc302, 2014 Culturation: J. DiMateo, Capstone, 2015 Environs: C. Palen, Arc302, 2015 Energy: K. Cooney, Arc520c, 2015 Matter: J. DiMateo, Capstone, 2015 Back Cover: ARC 101 Shadow Casting Screen, student of Prof. S. Trumble, 2014 2
Sustainability Pedagogy Conceptual Framework Architects bear more responsibility than anyone for reversing global climate change. Since the construction and operation of the built environment is responsible for nearly half of global greenhouse gas emissions, 1 architects have a unique and pressing opportunity to, yes, save the planet. This will require transforming the way buildings are designed, built, and operated which in turn will require changing how architects think. How architects think is established in architecture school. It is likely that most every course offered in the School of Architecture addresses sustainability in some way. The structure for a sustainability pedagogy integrated directly within the design studio curriculum establishes a pathway for enacting a collective vision that guides our efforts. The framework for our vision integrates a series of foucs areas that are iteratively implemented throughout the undergraduate program. 1 http://architecture2030.org/buildings_problem_why/ http://architecture2030.org/buildings_problem_why/ 3
Sustainability Pedagogy in Design Studio Curriculum The University of Arizona School of Architecture is the first accredited program in the nation to implement a sustainability protocol across an entire studio curriculum. While a number of architecture schools offer specialized courses in sustainability and individual studios with a sustainability emphasis, the UA has introduced a sustainability rubric across every studio in its professional Bachelor of Architecture degree, and will adopt a similar rubric in its Master of Architecture next year. Based on the International Living Future Institute s innovative certification program, the Living Building Challenge, the School has adopted six sustainability focus areas: Environs, Water, Energy, Matter, Wellness, and Culturation. Student projects will be evaluated for their effectiveness in these areas to increasingly rigorous standards as the studios advance. Just as architects have to respond to sustainability protocols, such as LEED, in any building of significance, UA students are learning to account for the sustainability performance of their designs, both in principle and with metrics, from their very first year of study. ENVIRONS A focus on issues of sustainability as they relate to context and human settlement. The development of this sustainability pedagogy was the result of assessing current professional sustainability rubrics, literature reviews of sustainability practices in other architecture schools, and consultation with architects running advanced practices in sustainable design. Implementation of the UA protocol began in 2014-2015, with fundamental concepts introduced in foundation studios; implementation of the program to later years will follow this class through the five-year degree. This initiative formalizes a collectively shared vision for the School to guide critical inquiry around the complex issues that our graduates face in practice. WATER A focus on issues relating to natural water cycles, scarcity, conservation, treatment, and management. 4
Sustainability Pedagogy Focus Areas ENERGY A focus on issues of sustainability as they pertain to the production and consumption of energy by and through the built environment in addition to closely related uses. MATTER A focus on issues of sustainability as they relate to the use of physical materials and the processes by which they are manipulated for use in the built environment. WELLNESS A focus on optimized healthfulness of all people through the design and maintenance of a built environment providing universal modes of mobility, and equal access to natural light, fresh air, and natural settings. CULTURATION A focus on the recognition and application of established local cultural practices as they relate to the sustainable continuity and renewal of the built environment. 5
Design Studio Curriculum: Focus Area Integration 6
Sustainability Pedagogy Learning Outcomes ENVIRONS Students should exhibit knowledge of optimized settlement density options, programmatic use diversity and adaptability (including agricultural opportunities), pedestrian oriented environment considerations, and wildlife habitat preservation. WATER Students should exhibit knowledge of natural, local and regional water cycles and flow patterns, availability, scarcity concerns, capturing and re-use systems, and strategies for biologic systems enhancement through storm water management. ENERGY Students should exhibit knowledge of renewable sources of energy, correlation between building configuration and energy consumption / human comfort, and principles of net-zero energy design. MATTER WELLNESS CULTURATION Students should exhibit knowledge of material life-cycle processes, conservation and re-use opportunities, the concept of embodied carbon footprints, and purposeful use of locally available and/or repurposed, non-toxic, materials, that are produced through fair labor and trade practices. Students should exhibit knowledge of strategies for providing living and working environments that are physically and psychologically healthful for all. This should include access to daylight, fresh air, and natural settings that are accessible to all members of society regardless of economic status or physical ability. Students should exhibit knowledge of local precedents and principles of the construction and maintenance of sustainable built environments that are integral and contemporary to the cultures which they serve, or have served. Additionally, students should show evidence of the application /adaptation of these principles in a contemporary cultural and physical context. 7
info for queries about the Sustainability protocol: shaneida@u.arizona.edu for graduate admissions: amoraga@email.arizona.edu for undergraduate admissions: s1wilson@email.arizona.edu all other queries about the SoA: blackbur@u.arizona.edu