Author Archive
HMC On Track for the AIA 2030 Commitment
May 22nd, 2012
By Pablo La Roche, Director of Sustainable Design
We are all aware of the importance of reducing our building’s carbon footprint to limit our impact on climate change. Architecture 2030, a non-profit independent organization, developed the 2030 Challenge which asks the architecture and building community to design all new buildings to meet a GHG-emitting performance standard of 60% below the regional (or country) average for that building type. This reduction will increase to 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, and 90% in 2025, until we achieve carbon neutrality in 2030. Architecture 2030 proposes that these targets be accomplished by implementing sustainable design strategies, generating on-site renewable power and/or purchasing (20% maximum) renewable energy.
CSU Monterey Bay’s Academic Building II, designed by HMC Architects, is one of several of our projects that is on track to meet the AIA 2030 Commitment’s GHG-emitting performance standard of 60% below the regional average for that building type.
Posted in High Performance Architecture
Sustainability Workshops at McKinley Elementary School
February 15th, 2012
By Pablo La Roche, Director of Sustainable Design
Fueled by a Community Project grant from HMC’s Designing Futures Foundation, Eera Babtiwale, Sandy Kate, and myself kicked off the first in a series of three sustainability workshops for students at McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica, Calif. We developed the “Sustainable Environments Seen Through the Eyes of Elementary School Children” workshops with the goal of providing students with a worldview perspective of environmental issues to give them practical suggestions on how they, as elementary school children, can build a better planet for all.
Posted in Designing Futures Foundation | 1 Comment »
The Paraujano House: An Example to Remember on Earth Day
April 21st, 2011
By Pablo La Roche, Director of Sustainable Design
We all know that we must reduce our environmental footprint and that low-carbon buildings help to do this. Over time, buildings have become more sophisticated and there has been progress in the development of the systems that help to achieve comfort. Systems that did not exist 100 years ago can now easily provide heat and light to a building with ever increasing efficiency.
However, even with renewed research in smart materials, we have not seen the same level of progress with the building skin, which is a powerful regulator of outdoor conditions. A beautiful example is the traditional Native American home built by the Paraujanos in northwestern Venezuela. Located in a hot and very humid climate, these dwellings were raised above the water, on pilings, and performed as inhabited filters in which the different components of the building envelope—floors, walls and ceilings—were permeable, regulating sunlight, wind, views, and water. The floor, built with cane poles, permitted cool air from the water below to filter inside the building. The walls, also made of cane poles or thatch, were permeable to the wind and filtered in the light. The ceiling, thick and built with enea—a type of thatch—permitted the house to breathe, evacuating the heat while blocking the rain. Because it is opaque, enea also blocked most of the solar radiation to the interior of the building, shading it effectively. Furthermore, Paraujanos only took the food and materials that they needed from the environment, leaving enough for all. This type of house is still built today, even in urban settings, but unfortunately many of the original materials have been substituted with contemporary materials such as industrialized tin and zinc, leading to much-reduced performance. Increased density has also impacted local ecosystems.
Posted in High Performance Architecture
Designing for a Carbon-Neutral World
April 5th, 2011
By Pablo La Roche, Director of Sustainable Design
“Touch this earth lightly” is one of my favorite sayings, which was adopted by Pritzker prizewinner Glenn Murcutt from an Aboriginal proverb. To achieve this truth, we must design buildings that are sensitive to environmental conditions—controlling solar radiation and wind for natural heating, cooling, and ventilation. As just one of many species on this planet, we have to minimize our impact. As architects, we can contribute by designing climate responsive high-performance green architecture. We should design buildings that are flexible and are built with low-energy materials, use little energy and water, send no waste to the environment, and do not generate greenhouse gas emissions.
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Posted in High Performance Architecture
Is Green Architecture Important?
September 14th, 2010
By Pablo LaRoche, Director of Sustainable Design
After thinking for a bit—maybe a bit too long—I decided to write my first blog post at HMC, simply on why I believe in green architecture.
First of all, we have to remember that life on earth would not be possible if it was not for the greenhouse effect. However, the atmosphere is getting hotter because we are pumping into it more greenhouse gases than it can absorb. Current climate models predict that global temperatures and sea level will rise in such a way that drought, flooding, and many other calamities will affect our way of life and cause the irreversible loss of many species of plants and animals. I believe that climate change is the most serious environmental threat facing the planet.
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Posted in High Performance Architecture | 4 Comments »
