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1. PC.3 Ecological Knowledge and Responsibility which States that
A program must demonstrate how its curriculum, structure, and other experiences
address[es … how it] instills in students a holistic understanding of the dynamic between
built and natural environments, enabling future architects to mitigate climate change
responsibly by leveraging ecological, advanced building performance, adaptation, and
resilience principles in their work and advocacy activities.
2. SC.5 Design Synthesis
[A program must demonstrate how it ensures, through program curricula and other experiences, with an emphasis on the articulation of learning objectives and assessment] that
students develop the ability to make design decisions within architectural projects while
demonstrating synthesis of user requirements, regulatory requirements, site conditions and
accessible design and consideration of measurable environmental impacts of their design
decisions. (NAAB 2020)
This last criterion must be demonstrated in the passing design work of all students
preparing to enter practice. My introduction of the phrase measurable environmental impacts was resisted by some at the time since it did not mention carbon footprinting by name and also because it was unclear how design students would
measure the broad environmental impacts of design alternatives since they had
never had to before. It was finally agreed that quantification of environmental
impacts would be included as a student requirement. If the two preceding accreditation conditions that centered on environmental stewardship, ecological knowledge,
and professional responsibility were to actually support public health, safety, and
welfare, then each and every student about to enter the profession had to prove how
his or her design decisions consider and act on the insights the non-geometric environmental impact category data can reveal.
James Fava ended his chapter in 2012 saying that “the jury was still out on
whether this trend will continue” but that he predicted that LCA information would
be used more and more to inform decision-making in both government and private
sectors. It seems that he, and all who have been optimistic about LCA’s ability to
augment many other fields, was right. They predicted wider operationalizing of
LCA data through new visualization tools (Fig. 6.3).
The last three chapters of this book focus on a student-centric approach to build
broader awareness and encourage the use of several LCA/LCIA data interfaces.
Several approaches were evaluated, from semiautomatic processes that leverage
building or product information models such as Tally, One Click LCA, and
Solidworks Sustainability to spreadsheet processes that work off of the Athena
Impact Estimator for Buildings. Much of this work came out of a close collaboration with an independent study undergradaute architecture student, Erin Heidelberber.
The work is primarily focused on the building scale due to the majority of design
tools that can interface with building centric data. Putting these practical approaches
into practice, designers of every stripe can augment their creative impulses and
improve judgment with a growing number of effective LCIA tools that eliminate
much of the painstaking work required in a proper quantitative life cycle approach
to design.
6 Addressing Resistance to a Fact-Based Approach
1. PC.3 Ecological Knowledge and Responsibility which States that
A program must demonstrate how its curriculum, structure, and other experiences
address[es … how it] instills in students a holistic understanding of the dynamic between
built and natural environments, enabling future architects to mitigate climate change
responsibly by leveraging ecological, advanced building performance, adaptation, and
resilience principles in their work and advocacy activities.
2. SC.5 Design Synthesis
[A program must demonstrate how it ensures, through program curricula and other experiences, with an emphasis on the articulation of learning objectives and assessment] that
students develop the ability to make design decisions within architectural projects while
demonstrating synthesis of user requirements, regulatory requirements, site conditions and
accessible design and consideration of measurable environmental impacts of their design
decisions. (NAAB 2020)
This last criterion must be demonstrated in the passing design work of all students
preparing to enter practice. My introduction of the phrase measurable environmental impacts was resisted by some at the time since it did not mention carbon footprinting by name and also because it was unclear how design students would
measure the broad environmental impacts of design alternatives since they had
never had to before. It was finally agreed that quantification of environmental
impacts would be included as a student requirement. If the two preceding accreditation conditions that centered on environmental stewardship, ecological knowledge,
and professional responsibility were to actually support public health, safety, and
welfare, then each and every student about to enter the profession had to prove how
his or her design decisions consider and act on the insights the non-geometric environmental impact category data can reveal.
James Fava ended his chapter in 2012 saying that “the jury was still out on
whether this trend will continue” but that he predicted that LCA information would
be used more and more to inform decision-making in both government and private
sectors. It seems that he, and all who have been optimistic about LCA’s ability to
augment many other fields, was right. They predicted wider operationalizing of
LCA data through new visualization tools (Fig. 6.3).
The last three chapters of this book focus on a student-centric approach to build
broader awareness and encourage the use of several LCA/LCIA data interfaces.
Several approaches were evaluated, from semiautomatic processes that leverage
building or product information models such as Tally, One Click LCA, and
Solidworks Sustainability to spreadsheet processes that work off of the Athena
Impact Estimator for Buildings. Much of this work came out of a close collaboration with an independent study undergradaute architecture student, Erin Heidelberber.
The work is primarily focused on the building scale due to the majority of design
tools that can interface with building centric data. Putting these practical approaches
into practice, designers of every stripe can augment their creative impulses and
improve judgment with a growing number of effective LCIA tools that eliminate
much of the painstaking work required in a proper quantitative life cycle approach
to design.
6 Addressing Resistance to a Fact-Based Approach