Week 1
1/21 Course intro, Sustainable systems
Go over Syllabus, Calendar, website.
Discuss course content and semester project.
Sustainable systems
The interior cannot be viewed as separate from building as a whole. Building as interrelated system, like a machine. Building as part of the neighborhood/regional system. Region as part of the world system (globalization).
Local choices affect environments worldwide.
Even the best intentions have unintended consequences.
Watch video "The attic" at Planet Green's "Stuff Happens" show (http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/stuff-happens/ )
What examples can you come up with of everyday choices having unintended consequences?
Articles for discussion:
- “Energy growth and food shortages,” International Herald Tribune (handout or http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/10/opinion/edfood.php)
- “Ethanol fuel from corn faulted as 'unsustainable subsidized food burning' in analysis by Cornell scientist,” Cornell Chronicle (handout or http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug01/corn-basedethanol.hrs.html)
- “Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper” from BBC (handout or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5369284.stm)
Widely accepted definition of sustainability – “the ability to meet needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Originally found in the Report of the World Commission on Environment: Our Common Future (Brundtland Report) to the UN in 1987.
- What does the definition mean?
- Are we doing that?
Assignments:
- Read Brundtland report (http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm) - From One Earth to One World (introduction), Our Threatened Future (Part I-1), and Towards Sustainable Development (Part I-2).