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IDES – EDU

Master and Post graduate education and


training in multi-disciplinary teams
implementing EPBD and Beyond

(IEE/09/631/SI2.558225)
What is IDES-EDU ?
The IDES-EDU project intends to educate and train both students and professionals in order to form
specialists in the field of multi-disciplinary design of buildings.
This is pursued through various steps:
• Preparation of curricula and training programs (Master and Post-graduate courses) which
reflects the centrality of sustainable requirements in the creation of the built environment,
including new methods of teaching that will equip students and professional to work within
multi-disciplinary and interdependent problem solving framework.
• Exchange and collaboration between the students and the professionals, involved in these
courses to come to a mutual exchange of experience, approach and understanding.
• Certification and accreditation of the courses on national level as well frameworks for European
certification for participants and for buildings designed in multi-disciplinary teams.
• An intelligent dynamic and adaptive teaching portal to make the educational packages available
to graduate students and building professionals in Europe.
• Increasing European awareness, promoting implementation and commitment on Integral
Sustainable Energy Design in the Built environment by promotional campaigns in the building
sector as well as by exchange programmers between universities.

In IDES-EDU 15 renowned educational institutes will full fill this need by developing these curricula
and training programs for MSc and Professionals.
Level in IDES-EDU curriculum: Fundamental educational package

Architectural Quality
Coordinator of the package:
Annemie Wyckmans, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, annemie.wyckmans@ntnu.no,
http://www.ntnu.no; http://www.sustainablearchitecture.no
Course description - Aim of the package

Aim of the package “Architectural Quality” is to introduce and


present how:

 Architecture and the built environment can create a


physical framework for a future zero energy/emission
society
 A high quality environment for society and its citizens also
can deal with challenges of climate change and resource
scarcity
More architecture for less CO2.
Course description - Introduction

After completing this course, the students will be able to:


 Understand the role of architecture and the built environment
in creating a physical framework for a low-carbon society: the
interaction between people, buildings and the environment
 Distinguish the parameters necessary to create climate-
adapted, energy-efficient buildings that satisfy aesthetic,
technical and social requirements...
 Assess co-benefits and challenges that arise in interactions
between built form and land use, energy demand, supply and
generation, climate change and resource scarcity
 Transform various performance criteria into a coherent
architectural programme and design for the different stages of
the life cycle of a building project, taking into account
aesthetics, technical requirements and social factors
Course description - contents and lectures index

The package “Architectural Quality” is divided into 6 lectures:

• Lecture 1: Architectural quality and energy efficiency


• Lecture 2: Appreciating the context
• Lecture 3: Architecture and People
• Lecture 4: Landscape and site resources
• Lecture 5: Resource efficient building morphologies and typologies
• Lecture 6: How buildings learn
LECTURE N° 6
How buildings learn
Lecture contributions

Coordinator of the lecture:


•Annemie Wyckmans, Associate Professor, Department of Architectural Design,
History and Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art, NTNU Norwegian
University of Science and Technology, annemie.wyckmans@ntnu.no

Contributors:
•Anne Sigrid Nordby; Department of Architectural Design, History and
Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art, NTNU Norwegian University of
Science and Technology
Lecture structure

Structure of the lecture:


•Increasing the lifetime of new and existing buildings
•How to design for reuse & disassembly
•Layers of change
•Systematic analysis of buildings and their uses

•Scenario exercise
Increasing the lifetime of new & existing buildings

The building industry consumes a


significant amount of resources in
terms of embodied energy/emissions,
transportation, materials and
components, human capacity etc.

How to design, construct & maintain


buildings in a manner that enables a
long lifetime with continuous
functionality, quality and usability?

Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Increasing the lifetime of new & existing buildings

”Almost no buildings adapt


well. They’re designed not to
adapt; also budgeted and
financed not to, constructed
not to, administered not to,
maintained not to, regulated
and taxed not to, even
remodeled not to.

But all buildings (except


monuments) adapt anyway,
however poorly, because the
usages in and around them are
changing constantly.”
Text source: Brand 1994:2; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans
Increasing the lifetime of new & existing buildings

Environmental efficiency of building materials

Environmental footprint: Choose


local materials with low impacts in
extraction and production

Operational qualities: Make the


best use of each material to
facilitate energy efficiency, good
indoor quality and an inspirational
building

Lifecycle potential: Aim for a long lifetime for each component, as well as for
flexibility and salvage

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Increasing the lifetime of new & existing buildings

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Text source & Picture: Anne Sigrid Nordby
Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby
How to design for reuse / disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby
How to design for reuse / disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


How to design for reuse / disassembly

Limited material selection


• Minimise the number of types of
material, preferably use
monomaterial components

• Minimise the number of, and


types of, components and
connectors

• Avoid toxic and hazardous


materials and secondary finishes

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


How to design for reuse / disassembly

Design for longevity


• Environmental assessments of
building materials

• Design for salvageability

• Environmentally justifiable
lifetime

• Consequences for architecture


and production

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby
How to design for reuse / disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby
How to design for reuse / disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Design for reuse / disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Design for reuse / disassembly
Durable design
• Design durable components that can withstand repeated use and outlast
generations of buildings

• Pay attention to joints and connectors, and provide adequate tolerances for
repeated disassembly and reassembly

• Aim for aesthetic


quality of components

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby; Picture: Harald Høyem


Design for reuse / disassembly

High generality
• Use standard dimensions,
modular constructions and a
standard structural grid

• Aim for small scale and


lightweight components

• Reduce the complexity of


components and
constructions, and plan for
using common tools and
equipment

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Design for reuse / disassembly

Flexible connections
• Use reversible connections for subassemblies, between components and between
building parts

• Allow for parallel disassembly

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Design for reuse / disassembly

Accessible information
• Provide identification of material and component types

• Identify and provide access to connection points

• Provide updated as-built drawings, log of


materials used and guidance for deconstruction

Source: Anne Sigrid Nordby; Picture (right): Carved marks in


traditional log construction; (left): reclaimed stamped brick
A time-layered perspective

”From the first drawings


to the final demolition,
buildings are shaped and
reshaped by changing
cultural currents,
changing real-estate
value, and changing
usage.”

Text source: Brand 1994:2; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


A time-layered perspective

“Homes are the steadiest changers,


responding directly to the family’s
ideas & annoyances, growth &
prospects

Reality-based change is constant &


relentless. Babies arrive, become kids,
become older kids, leave; dependent
aging relatives arrive, die; money
comes, money goes; divorce hovers;
careers change; everybody keeps on
maturing in their tastes & activities”

Text source: Brand 1994:7; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

“Because of the different rates of


change of its components, a building is
always tearing itself apart”

• SITE

• STRUCTURE

• SKIN

• SERVICES

• SPACE PLAN

• STUFF

Text source: Brand 1994:13; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Site
The geographical setting, the
urban location, & the legally
defined lot

Boundaries & context outlast


generations of ephemeral
buildings

Text source: Brand 1994:18; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Structure
The foundation & load-bearing elements are
perilous & expensive to change, so people don’t

The structure is the building

Structural life ranges from 30 to 300 years


(but few buildings make it past 60, for other
reasons)

Text source: Brand 1994:13; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Structure
Buildings should be really long-
lived. The foundation & main
frame of the building ought to be
built of solid stuff that is capable
of lasting 300 years

In order to make the structure


last even longer, Design for Reuse
(DfR) and Design for Disassembly
(DfD).

Text source: Christopher Alexander, in Brand 1995:124-


127; Picture: Rolf André Bohne
Layers of change

Skin
Exterior surfaces change every 20
year or so, to keep up with fashion or
technology, or for wholesale repair

Focus on energy costs has led to re-


engineered Skins that are air-tight &
better insulated

Avoid reliance on a single barrier

Redundancy of function is always


more reliable than attempts at
perfection, which time treats cruelly

Text source: Brand 1994:13; 120; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Services
The working guts of a building:
communications, wiring, electrical
systems, plumbing, sprinklers, HVAC
(heating ventilation air conditioning),
escalators & elevators

They wear out or obsolesce every 7-


15 years

Many buildings are demolished early


if their outdated systems are too
deeply embedded to replace easily

Text source: Brand 1994:13; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Space plan: Planning for flexibility and adaptability


Generality:

• with the ability to adapt to


changed use over time

Layers:

• making room for renovation of


building components according to
lifetime

Flexibility:

• able to change the floor plan without disturbing other elements (ventilation,
heating, lighting…)

Picture: Anne Sigrid Nordby


Layers of change

Stuff
Chairs, desks, phones, pictures, kitchen
appliances, lamps, hair brushes etc

Replaced daily to monthly to annually

The trick is to remodel in such a way as


to make later remodeling unnecessary
or at least easy. Keep furniture mobile.
Keep wiring, plumbing & ducts
accessible. Because at some point
sooner than you imagine your present
arrangement will become suddenly &
profoundly intolerable.

Text source: Brand 1994:13;163; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Layers of change

Souls
You could add a seventh ”S”:

human Souls

Text source: Brand 1994:17; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Systematic analysis of buildings and their uses

With buildings, the lethargic slow parts are in


charge, not the dazzling rapid ones.

Site dominates the Structure, which dominates


the Skin, which dominates the Services. Which
dominate the Space plan, which dominates the
Stuff.

For example, how a room is heated depends on


how it relates to the heating and cooling
Services, which depend on the energy efficiency
of the Skin, which depends on the constraints of
the Structure

Text source: Brand 1994:17; Picture: GASA Architects


Systematic analysis of buildings and their uses

What makes the difference between a building


that gets steadily better & one that gets steadily
worse?

An adaptive building has to allow slippage


between the differently-paced systems of Site,
Structure, Skin, Services, Space plan, and Stuff

The building may be blessed with durable


construction & resilient design which can forgive
insult & hard swerves of useage

A brick factory from the 1910s, with its


intelligent daylighting & abundant space, can
stand empty for a decade & still gain value

Text source: Brand 1994:20;23; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Systematic analysis of buildings and their uses

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE)

POEs are a shockingly direct procedure for


judging how well a building works by formally
surveying the occupants, especially the people
who clean, service, or repair the building &
know its failures all too well.

Trained observers also watch & photograph how


the building is used, comparing what actually is
happening against what was intended

Text source: Brand 1994:65; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Systematic analysis of buildings and their uses

Preventive maintenance

Constructing the building in such a way that it


doesn’t need a lot of maintenance

Specialised knowledge distances buildings from


users

How might a building be designed so that it


teaches its users good maintenance habits?

Text source: Brand 1994:112;150;130


Scenario exercise

Introduction

Scenarios can provide a way around


some of the major design errors that
commonly occur with buildings.
The worst mistakes come not from
wrong decisions but from not doing
the right thing that never occurred
to anybody to do.

Scenarios attack a design from so


many directions that gaps and
oversights are likely to show up.

Also, scenarios severely test fond notions that might otherwise get by unchallenged

Text source: Brand 1994:185; Picture: Annemie Wyckmans


Scenario exercise

Part 1

Distribute the students in groups of 3-4 students each

All groups start from the same building, for example a suburban house or mid-centre
office building (it can be an existing building or a virtual one)

Each group starts to imagine the most likely scenario: what would be the official
future of this building? For which purpose is it designed? For how long? (15 minutes)

Then, each group starts to think the unthinkable: the students can top each other in
imagining terrible and delightful things that might happen, exacerbated by crucial
uncertainties – what happens if...?) Each group can think freely for about 30 minutes,
then writes down 2-4 of the most interesting ’unthinkable’ scenarios.

*break*

Text source: Brand 1994:182-3


Scenario exercise

Part 2

After a short break, each group presents their scenarios (most likely + unthinkables)
to the others

Then, each group works on how the design of the building and its services can
incorporate these scenarios. Which changes need to be made? (45 minutes)

For the final step, groups exchange their proposals with the neighbouring group.
Group A analyses group B’s proposal, etc: what if they got it wrong? What would they
regret not having done? What would they regret locking in? (45 minutes)

Presentation to everyone in the classroom: group A present group B’s proposal, and
critiques it (etc): which scenarios can be incorporated? what are the potential lock-
ins, what did they learn from this exercise?

Text source: Brand 1994:182-3


Syllabus

• Brophy, V. & Lewis, J.O. (2011) A Green Vitruvius – Principles and practice of
sustainable architectural design. London: Earthscan (pages 86 – 87).
• Lawson, Bryan (2006) How designers think. The design process demystified.
• Sassi P. (2006) Strategies for sustainable architecture. Oxon: Taylor & Francis
(pages 149 – 157).
Additional reference literature

• Bjørn Berge (2000) Ecology of building materials


• Marsh/ Lauring/ Petersen (2000) Arkitektur og miljø, form konstruksjon
materialer
• McDonough/ Braungart (2002) Cradle to cradle. Remaking the way we make
things.
• Lechner (2001) Heating Cooling Lighting
• Lawson, Bryan (2006) How designers think. The design process demystified.

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