Architectural Economics
Hisham al-Qasim
Form and function, terms that accompany many of the definitions that belong to architecture, but more is needed to summarize the practice in 2023.
Form and function, terms that accompany many of the definitions that belong to architecture, but more is needed to summarize the practice in 2023.
Nowadays, building involves understanding material cycles and how each action can be linked to the extraction of natural resources and their damage to the environment, we live in an urgent need to review the way we produce built spaces. In this search for models that move away from linear systems and provide a continuous process of transformation and redistribution of matter, strategies emerging from the circular economy emerge as a potential path.
Working with the circular economy is a potential pathway.
Circularity is the process of recycling materials and avoiding the use of new materials. It creates new possibilities for salvaged materials, reduces the amount of demolition waste, and provides building materials with less environmental impact.
Design as primary sustainability decisions
In the case of renovation, minimize or eliminate the need to build spaces that require new materials. For this, environments can be less involved and multifunctional. When better considering the environmental impact of a project, a table containing the choice of materials and technologies to list built-in emissions, how resources are produced, and means of avoiding waste can help clarify the steps of the entire project.
Selection of construction materials
material selection based on bio-based and sustainable sources - wood with an FSC label, for example - creates a high-level circular strategy, as biomass can be returned to the natural resource stock over time.
Demolition, recycled or reconditioned materials can also be used, it should be noted that the closer the materials or resources used are to the construction site, the lower the economic and environmental costs of transportation and logistics.
Construction execution precautions
Respecting the context is one of the best ways to avoid waste, one should know how to minimize interference with natural habitats, such as land movements and logging.
Respecting the context is one of the best ways to avoid waste, one should know how to minimize interference with natural habitats.
*Architect and faculty member at King Saud University
@ArchHesham
