Sustainable Design: From Concept to Implementation

Catalog description

Given the building sector’s significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative to decarbonize our buildings, new and old, and to conserve resources. This paradigm shift will drive creative, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive design in the fields of architecture and urban planning for the foreseeable future. This course explores the overarching context of climate change and the urgency to holistically implement integrated sustainable design, identifying high-impact strategies, illustrated by real world case studies from the practice. The course highlights social inequities exacerbated by climate change, with consequences for the health and welfare of subjected populations. The course consists of a mix of readings, discussions, team research projects, and collaborative design interventions to address designing for a low-carbon future, water conservation, social equity and inclusion, ecology, health and wellness, economy, material resources, adaptive change, innovation and discovery. (4 credits)