A Building Envelope Consultant’s Approach to Ecological Sustainable Design
“Making nature visible is a way of reacquainting us with wider communities of life, but it also informs us about the ecological consequences of our activities” (Cowan, Stuart, and Sim Van der Ryn. Ecological Design. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1996.) Sustainable design enhances civilization without destroying biodiversity and natural environments. Ecological design reduces negative environmental effects by integrating itself with living processes. Unlike the current finite system of design, an integrated cooperative system of sustainable and ecological design, called ecological sustainable design, is required to promote infinite ecological processes, purposes and productivities. This article will demonstrate how a building envelope consultant as part of a project team can assist with the implementation of ecological sustainable design to enhance the quality of human and natural life in the built environment.
A higher education building, DeAnza College’s Media and Learning Center, in Cupertino, Calif., serves as a case study for implementing ecological sustainable design. The building, a two-story, LEED Platinum structure, includes 65,000 square feet of media and learning center space. It also features a buoyancy-driven natural air ventilation system, more than 6,000 square feet of photovoltaics, vacuum-tube style solar thermal collectors, and it is clad with a terra-cotta rain screen system, metal wall panels and an aluminum-and-glass curtain wall system (Figure 1). A central atrium includes skylights and clerestory windows, and its steep-sloped roof is clad with a standing-seam metal roof. At the building perimeter, louvers serve as air intakes for the ventilation system. Other portions of the roof consist of a single-ply membrane that meets ENERGY STAR, LEED and Cool Roof Rating Council requirements for reflectivity and emissivity. The project’s east-west orientation maximizes energy efficiency while creating space for a new public quad. Its landscaping addresses rainwater quality and quantity and offers an indoor/outdoor student lounge and breakout areas. Ecological sustainable design for this building is achieved by incorporating natural patterns, minimizing energy consumption and connecting occupants with nature.