People, Planet, Design

Annotated Table of Contents People, Planet, Design A Practical Guide to Realizing Architecture’s Potential

By Corey Squire, AIA

Part One - Theory Part one examines the current state of sustainability in architecture and poses questions about the fundamental purpose of the built environment. These chapters explore the relationship between form and function and the structural barriers to better design before highlighting effective strategies for realizing architecture’s planet-saving potential.

Chapter 1: Form and Function The narrative begins by describing two problems that architecture must reconcile to remain relevant and achieve its potential to improve lives. The first is a rift between form and function brought about by a century of technological innovations and the second is the perceived distance between “design” and “sustainability” as fundamental goals of built work. This chapter chronicles the arc of recent architectural history, the progress of the sustainable design movement, and how the definition of great design has shifted with the priorities of the day. A deep dive into fundamental concepts such as “design” and “function” helps set the stage for a vision of Design Excellence in the era of climate change.

Chapter 2: Benefits and Barriers The benefits of good design are individual and collective, local, and global, current and felt far into the future. We should be asking more of our buildings, and they should be delivering more value. This chapter details architecture’s opportunities to elevate its impact and enhance its relevance. In addition, the structural barriers that stand in the way of human-centric, planet saving design are documented and the strategies to overcome these barriers are considered.

Chapter 3: Effective Communication The obstacles that hold back architecture from its potential are real and encountered by every architect on almost every project. However, many of these obstacles might be less of a roadblock and more of an invitation to frame the situation differently. Effectively communicating architecture's potential to solve major problems is the first step to solving them. Architects can develop and hone the language necessary to communicate the potential of their craft.

Part Two - Practice The journey to better architecture begins with architectural practice and Part Two is geared towards architects and firms that want to elevate their entire portfolio to the next level of performance. The structure presented in this section is based on the observation that buildings are a manifestation of the environments in which they were designed. Therefore, the most effective way to improve the performance of a building is through interventions at the level of practice. From firm culture to design process, this section presents a four-tier framework for building a practice that constantly creates highperforming buildings.

Chapter 4: Vision A vision is essential for guiding great work and the more closely aligned with the ethos of a particular practice, the more effective it will be. This chapter highlights the qualities of an effective vision and outlines a process for collaboratively defining a firm’s unique approach to design excellence.

Chapter 5: Culture Culture represents the social environment in which design takes place. This chapter explores the reasons that building performance is structurally disincentivized within the traditional practice of architecture, and thus typically ends up as the lowest priority. Specific initiatives or interventions in company culture can change this. The chapter looks at the responsibility of firm leadership, the distribution of roles within a firm, model work environments, attitudes around design, and the power of incentives to change behavior.

Chapter 6: Process Six elements of a high-performance design process are introduced, along with examples of how each element can integrate into an existing workflow. Targeted goal setting, effective research, building performance simulation, and post-occupancy engagement are topics that are explored in detail.

Chapter 7: Information, Resources, and Knowledge Certain knowledge is necessary to deliver high-performance architecture, but to achieve the desired results, the right information needs to be available at the right time, and those facing design decisions need to know where to look. This chapter proposes an approach to identifying, organizing, storing, and using information through the lens of knowledge management. Broad categories of necessary resources are defined to help make sense of what could otherwise result in stifling information overload.

Part Three - Design Part Three provides a deep dive into ten major building systems and explores the impacts that result from their design. Following up on the big pictures of theory and practice, this is a practical how-to guide for high-performance architecture. Each chapter provides detailed and actionable design guidelines that maximize the benefits of its respective building system.

Chapter 9: Scale The scale of various building components in relation to each other is essential to setting a design on the right track from the beginning of the design process. This chapter explores load versus skin dominated buildings, floor plate depth versus ceiling height, and the problem of environmental access. In addition, human scale design is addressed at the building and urban scale as well as the scale of impacts that good design can achieve.

Chapter 9: Windows Windows are the pivotal system of a building. From appearance to experience, to performance, to resilience, no other system will determine the quality of a design to the same degree as the windows.

These complex openings serve as the membrane between the indoor and outdoor world, modulating everything from light to air to views and the ability of a building to function without power. The implications of their design are far-reaching, impacting energy performance, light quality, and occupant health. Get the windows right and the building is likely to perform regardless of the design of its other systems. Get the windows wrong and the project is unlikely to recover.

Chapter 10: Air Quality and Quantity Addressing ventilation, infiltration, indoor, and outdoor air quality, the building systems related to the movement and purity of air are second only to the windows in determining overall impacts. Air plays an outsized role in both energy performance and human health. Topics covered include enclosure strategies, filtration and ventilation systems, and outdoor pollution among others.

Chapter 11: Roof A seemingly simple building system, primarily meant to keep the rain out is both fraught with challenges and rich with opportunities. While the strategies for bulk water management are the priority focus, design choices focused on durability, material selection, and space use make the roof a design

problem that will benefit from renewed thinking and dedicated resources. Geometric forms, colors, materials, projections, solar PV systems, plantings, and roof decks are all explored in this section.

Chapter 12: Structure Most contemporary buildings are supported by either wood, concrete, or steel. The simple choice among these three systems and the decisions that follow have far-reaching implications. The chapter explores various structural systems, forms, and opportunities to turn this potentially resource-intensive system into an all-around beneficial one. Embodied carbon and durability serve as the primary areas of focus.

Chapter 13: Electricity Electricity is essential to the built environment, but it’s often used in ways that are wasteful, useless, or even counterproductive. The chapter explores the appropriate use of electricity in buildings to maximize benefits and minimize costs. Topics covered include electrification, efficiency versus conservation, lighting and plug loads, controls, energy storage, and the modern epidemic of blinking lights,

Chapter 14: Interior Finishes Interior finishes are the surfaces that building occupants come in direct contact with. Most often this is by touch, but these materials are also inhaled when released into the air and ingested when broken down into dust. The health implications of interior finishes are among the most significant of all building systems. Focusing on areas where caution is most warranted, this chapter explores risks and opportunities associated with interior finishes and the health, durability, environmental, and social impacts of their selection.

Chapter 15: The Benefits of Trees Whether applied to shade a window, absorb stormwater, or cool the surrounding neighborhood, trees are essential components of great buildings, healthy communities, and a functioning planet. Topics

covered include microclimates, urban heat, biophilia, carbon sequestration, habitat, and food production among others.

Chapter 16: Access The built environment only benefits those who have access to it and so expanding access to wide ranges of individuals is an important goal of good design. This includes urban design strategies that provide equitable access to a building, design that supports human power transportation, choice and variation of indoor environmental conditions, trust in users, universal access, and how design can serve, or otherwise ignore, our innate evolutionary needs.

Chapter 17: User Behavior It’s clear that the building itself is only responsible for a portion of its impact. Two different families in identical houses can produce very different outcomes in terms of health, comfort, and operational efficiency. It’s time that architects leverage the most advanced building operator system that the world has ever known, the human occupants. While not a traditional building system, building users will determine many of a building’s outcomes and design can be used to influence behavior towards better outcomes. Topics covered include feedback loops, automation and controls systems, environmental design, user empowerment, choice architecture, and strategies for building community.