INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES IN DESIGN AND PRACTICE Lecture By: Dr. Yasser Mahgoub
Integrating Sustainability Strategies in Design and Practice 
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Integrating Sustainability Strategies in Design and Practice As sustainability is becoming more and more a familiar topic in engineering practice and education, the problem remains on how to achieve sustainability in front of client, cost and construction industry challenges. The lecture proposes the integration of sustainability in design process, education and legislation. The lecture focuses on sustainability strategies that can be incorporated in practice and design process. The goal is to make sustainability an integral part of practice that influences both design and construction stages. Other attempts should be made to make sustainability an integral part of legislation and education.
Negative Image
Historical Development 4
1960’s Vernacular Architecture 1970’s Energy and Architecture 1980’s Ecological/Environmental Architecture 1990’s Sustainable Architecture (Economic, Environment, Equity) 2000’s Green Architecture 2010’s Integrated/Rated Sustainability (Systems, Smart, Strategy)
1960’s Vernacular
1970’s Energy
1980’s Ecological
1990’s Sustainable
2000’s Green
2010 Integrated
Sustainable Building Design
“Sustainable design integrates consideration of resource and energy efficiency, healthy buildings and materials, ecologically and socially sensitive land use and an aesthetic that inspires, affirms and enables”
Union Internationale des Architectes’ Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future, Chicago, 1993
Environment, Economy and Equity pillars of sustainable development
Sustainable Building Design 6
Socio-Economic
Introduction 
In their search for models that incorporate sustainable principles of design, many designers and planners have looked to history and vernacular architecture in particular.
Traditional Solutions 
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However, while such lessons can and have been readily transferred from vernacular buildings to small modern building types such as houses, schools, community buildings, and the like. They are less easily transferable to large modern building types for which there are no historical precedents, either of scale or complexity.
Traditional Solutions
Traditional Solutions
Traditional Solutions
Traditional Solutions
Shading Devices 13
Sustainable Architecture Dr. Yasser Mahgoub
Life Cycle of Building Products
Approach • Pre-Design
- This Stage involves the development of the program and meeting the owner's project requirements. -The green design should be stated as an objective at this stage or it would be more difficult to implement. -This stage is more of a sales effort than a design effort.
Approach • Conceptual Design
-This stage provides several design solutions and alternatives, where a solution picked by the client would be pursued. - Some form giving design strategies would be presented in drawing for the client.
Approach • Schematic Design
-This phase provides technical drawings reflecting the concept, and provides a verification of whether the project is feasible or within budget. -Its when the concept becomes a reality.
Approach • Design Development
-In this phase, schematic design decisions are validated, systems are optimized, details are developed, specific equipment selected, and drawings and specifications initiated.
Approach • Construction Documents
-This includes construction drawings and specifications. - These documents are a major part of the contract, and basis for construction.
Approach • Construction
-This phase converts the construction documents to a physical reality. -The testing and verification of green system is performed.
Approach • Occupancy
-Some of the strategies need informed operators, the design team generates a user's manual to ensure proper system operation.
Design Intent, Criteria and Method • Intent - An intent is a general statement of expected outcome, for example: a green building, a low cost building, an efficient building, a comfortable building, a building with good air quality.
Design Intent, Criteria and Method • Criteria -A design criterion is a benchmark that sets a minimum acceptable performance target for the issues addressed in the intent statements.
Design Intent, Criteria and Method • Method -A method is a means of accomplishing intent and meeting criteria.
Green vs. Sustainable • Green Design -Green design focuses on reducing the environmental impacts of energy, water and material usage.
Green vs. Sustainable • Sustainable Design -Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the current generations without impairing the future generations.
Active or Passive • Passive -Uses no purchased energy (no electricity/natural gas etc.) -Uses components that are part of another system. (windows, floors) -Is closely integrated into the overall building fabric (not tacked on)
Active or Passive • Active -Uses purchased energy.
-Doesn’t use components that are part of another system. -Usually tacked on to the overall building fabric.
Sustainability Levels
Design Process Cultural
Programmatic
Design
Formal
Technical
Defining the Problem:
Intention
ISSUE
INTENT
Thermal comfort Lighting level Energy efficiency Green design
Acceptable thermal comfort Acceptable luminance Minimal energy usage Obtain certification
Defining the Problem:
Prioritizing
Integration and Sustainability
Three types of integration: Physical integration
1.
Physical integration is fundamentally about how components and systems share space, that is, how they fit together.
Visual integration
2.
Visual integration involves development of visual harmony among the many parts of a building and their agreement with the intended visual effects of design.
Performance integration.
3.
Performance integration has to do with “shared functions” in which a load-bearing wall, for instance, is both envelope and structure, so it unifies two functions into one element.
Integration and Sustainability
key components of an integrated design process 1. Whole-Systems Thinking: taking interactions between elements and systems into account, and designing to exploit their energies. 2. Front-Loaded Design: thinking through a design early in the process, before too many decisions are locked in and opportunities for low-cost, high-value changes to major aspects for the design have dwindled. 3. End-Use, Least-Cost Planning: considering the needs of a project in terms of the services (comfort, light, access) the end user will need, rather than in terms of the equipment required to meet those needs. 4. Teamwork: coming up with solutions as a group and collaborating closely on implementing those solutions.
key components of an integrated design process 1. Shape and Shadow: massing and orientation of the building as related to function, daylight, and structural considerations. 2. Site Opportunities: location of building and its effect on the immediate context; 3. Envelope: types of walls and locations of windows; 4. Lighting Design: daylighting and electrical lighting; 5. How the Building Breathes: natural ventilation and passive heating and cooling; 6. Comfort System: heating and cooling loads and mechanical systems design; 7. Materials: selection and composition; and 8. Quality Assurance: review of building as a system.
Components of good teamwork on design projects 1. Strong support from the client; 2. Mutual respect; 3. Effective communication; and 4. An ability to deal constructively with conflict.
Sustainability Challenges
Sustainable Design Strategies
Sustainable Design Strategies
Sustainable Design Strategies
Sustainable Design Strategies
Major Site Factors
Matter
Active heating and cooling Double envelope mitigate the surface temperature of the interior glass, reducing the mechanical intervention required to provide comfortable conditions under both and cooling modes
Box window
Corridor facade
Multi-story facade
Shaft-box
Active heating and cooling
Shaft-box
Corridor facade
Active heating and cooling
Multi-story facade
Box window
Green Roofs Green Roofs are split into two categories: Extensive Intensive
Shading Devices
Shading Devices 
Shading devices on the external walls of a building can be used to decrease the amount of light entering the building
Daylight Factor Daylight Factor (DF): It is a numerical ratio used to describe the relationship between indoor and outdoor daylight luminance (typically under overcast sky conditions).
Daylight Zoning  
According to Location and Orientation of a space. The Designer has control over the location and orientation of a space to maximize day-lighting, while function and usage schedule are based on the program.
Top Lighting 
Is a day light strategy that uses openings located at the roof plane as the point of admission for the surrounding daylight.
Light Shelves
From Material Position
Light Shelves
Exterior
Interior
Both Sides
Electric lighting 
Lighting accounts for around 19% of global electrical energy consumption.
Non-task related lighting
Task related lighting
Cross Ventilation Natural ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor space by natural means. There are many type of natural ventilation : 1) Single Sided Ventilation 2) Single Sided Double Opening 3) Cross Ventilation 4) Stack Ventilation
Cross Ventilation 
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Buildings will be best naturally ventilated when they are very open to the wind and at the same time they are shaded from the solar radiation. The cross ventilation can easily introduce noise into a building so opening must be located to minimize the effect of noise.
Stack Ventilation STACK VENTILATION is a passive cooling strategy which relies on TWO basic principles. - As air warms up, it becomes less dense and rises. - Fresh ambient air replaces the air that has risen.
Stack Ventilation Increasing the HEIGHT of a stack is one way to achieve a greater temperature difference. The higher the stack, the greater the vertical stratification of temperatures.
Photovoltaic Photovoltaic: Systems that produce electricity through the direct conversion of incident solar radiation. Provides direct output that can be stored in a battery or converted to power.
1.0 on the chart is the most efficient.
Example Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Qatar University New College of Engineering Building
Conclusion There are many ways for a building to be green and environmentally friendly, and it is the architect's role to know the strategies and imply them correctly.
Major challenges to the application of Sustainability Survey 1. 2. 3. 4.
Clients (Private Business & RE Companies) Cost & Finance Technology Availability Governments (Building Codes, Legislation and Laws) 5. Rating Systems (LEED, QSAS, etc.)
Thank You