Factors to Consider When Designing Buildings

The economic principle I’m exploring is Institutions are the “rules of the game” that influence choices.

                             
                                                                   Source: Pinterest 

My research question to help me study the economic principle is how do architects  have to change the way they design buildings in order to impact the environment less?

The video published in TED x Talks titled “Architecture's Ripple Effect: Designing for Big Impact” demonstrates this economic principle by arguing that we need to design buildings to limit the negative impact they have on the natural environment and increase their positive impact.

First, the guy in the video says that we should build our structures with more greenery and trees because this is shown to improve the overall mental health of people, something that is a big issue right now. And has been proven to help people recover from illness and heal faster. We need to design our buildings not only to limit their negative effect on society but, to bring something new and helpful to the surrounding community.

Second, he talks about how much our buildings actually harm the environment or impact it in a negative way. He says that our buildings use 40% of all our energy and natural resources, 25% of the worlds water supply and about 33% of all CO2 emissions. He thinks that there are many things that we can do in order to help with the problem. One solution he offers is solar panels on roofs. He also says that many buildings should be self sustaining. For example one building he designed in Ireland was made from stone from the local farm's quarry.

Third, he talks about the social aspects of architecture. Going back to the example of the house he designed in Ireland he says that when the family of furniture makers approached him to help them build a bigger facility, he noticed that they had a strong culture and he had to work around that in order to build a new facility. He says that the best type of design is the type that responds to the environment and the social context of the site

In my next blog post I will research the question: What are the economic impacts of designing environmentally friendly buildings and houses?