Why Sustainable Architecture?

With the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world’s tendency towards caring for the environment increased especially with the growing awareness of the relationship between environment and architecture. Man has been attempting to adapt to the environment and make use of its sources throughout history. The term “Sustainability” appeared due to the increasing technical and engineering potentials that prepare the environment, make it fit for life, and improve its quality. Sustainability refers to the developmental strategies that take into account the present, plan for the future, and balance between the interests that serve everyone within the fields of economy, sociology, health, and development in order to provide suitable and appropriate life quality that makes it possible for man to progress and improve his living standards.

Later on, “Environmental Architecture” appeared. Environmental Architecture takes care of the environment’s natural physical surroundings, recommends using natural substances that do not harm humans, creatures, or resources in general, and calls for preserving a base of natural resources and wealth for the future. Sustainable Architecture then adopted a series of strategies which include buildings’ best orientation, making use of natural energy, and taking care of planning systems as well as the inner and internal and external construction details. Such strategies, in turn, lead to the improvement of life quality and public health. Hence, we can say that sustainable planning is the first step of achieving internal and external sustainable architecture that requires better usage of all the acquired skills.

As a matter of fact, the architect cannot meet the requirements of quality, adequacy, and economy unless he is fully aware of the theories of sustainability and the building’s compatibility with the surrounding environment. The fields of environment and urbanization should also take into account the architectural aspects of designing so as to maintain the aesthetic aspects and achieve the purposes for which the building was constructed. The labor market, therefore, is in dire need of an engineer who is fully aware of the architectural, structural, environmental, and aesthetic aspects to provide the security, adequacy, and aesthetics of buildings. The engineer should also be fully aware of old and modern construction methods and should be able to choose the best method that suits the project’s budget and its execution program. Moreover, the engineer should evaluate the project’s execution phases in a manner that meets the concepts and foundations of sustainable architecture, life quality, and the achievement of the comprehensive national development plans’ objectives.