Sustainable Housing Design: Integrating technical and housing quality aspects of sustainable architecture in civil engineering education.

Sustainable Housing Design. Integrating technical and housing quality aspects of sustainable architecture in civil engineering education. Summary An integrated design approach to sustainable architecture is outlined that combines concerns for zero energy building, good indoor climate and adequate constructions, private and public outdoor space, housing, urban and architectural quality. The educational framework, curriculum and inte-grated design methods are preconditions for optimizing a design process where technical criteria, functional concerns and housing quality are addressed from the initial phases. The outcome shows that integrated design further solutions where sustainable urban forms of settlement can be highly energy efficient while also attractive from a user perspective. Key words: Sustainable architecture, integrated design, zero-energy-housing, dense urban living. 1. Introduction When designing sustainable housing, energy optimization and satisfactory indoor climates are central issues that need to be incorporated from early design phases if to reach a coherent design. It might also be argued that the energy consumption of contemporary buildings only plays a rela-tively minor role compared to energy consumption related to private transportation of the occu-pants. Research points towards high urban density if to reduce the need for transportation. But Danish families prefer to live in detached houses situated in less dense suburbia to achieve sun, fresh air and green space. Thus, if one wants to realistically solve the issue of sustainable housing design one must address the intertwined aspects of building construction, urban density and neighborhood qualities which calls for an interdisciplinary design approach. This paper tells of a thoroughly tested civil engineering education program at university master level dealing with the complex issue of combining zero energy building with dense urban living for children families. 2. Methodology The students are recommended to use the Integrated Design Process-method as described by Mary-Ann Knudstrup, that has been developed especially for the A&D architectural program and its intention of combining architectural and engineering skills in design work where ‘artistic learning, the creation of ideas, and an ability to see new possibilities and be creative become just as important parameters as the ability to identify problems and suggest a rational solution’. 3. Results and Conclusion The described educational program encompasses three major aspects and allows them to pro-foundly influence the building design: The first being dense settlement in order to reduce the envi-ronmental impact from transportation, to reduce the use of land and to increase the efficiency of infrastructures. The second being low energy consumption and local energy production that in northern climates involve passive and active solar which is difficult to obtain in dense urban areas. The third being that most residents like to have access to private or semi-private outdoor spaces; that residents especially in the Nordic countries prefer to have well-lit housing units and that chil-dren families in general benefit from being close to green areas and playgrounds. This is difficult to achieve in areas of high urban density, but the ambition must be addressed in a sustainable perspective. The student designs on mixed-use zero energy-housing show that sustainable forms of settlement and good residential life can unite and that a dense human biotope reaching zero energy may be an attractive one. This is difficult to achieve and takes integrating design skills that carefully merg-es technical, social and aesthetical criteria and considerations, which is not self-evident in con-temporary building practice.