Architecture and the Culture of Sustainability: Building Recycling

This essay delves into the critical intersection of architecture and sustainability, focusing specifically on the practice of recycling buildings. It begins by highlighting the significant environmental impact of the construction industry, emphasizing the large consumption of resources and contribution to carbon emissions. The essay then explores the evolution of architectural design, from prioritizing aesthetics to embracing sustainable principles. Key strategies for promoting sustainability are discussed, including efficient resource utilization, passive design techniques, and the incorporation of renewable materials. The essay underscores the importance of building recycling as a means of conserving raw materials, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing pollution and landfill waste. The benefits of building recycling are explored in detail, alongside the use of renewable resources. The essay concludes by emphasizing the role of architects in reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the building lifecycle and promoting a culture of sustainability for the benefit of present and future generations.

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ARCHITECTURE AND THE CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY – THE RECYCLING OF
BUILDINGS
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Architecture and the Culture of Sustainability – The Recycling of Buildings
The way we design, create structures and use architecture significantly shapes our
identity. There are many famous buildings worldwide that are known to express different
standpoints of identity. Some of these include: Eiffel Tower (Paris, France;), The Colosseum
(Rome, Italy), The Giza Pyramids (El Giza, Egypt), The Capitol (Washington DC), Big Ben
(Westminster, London), Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh, India), The Louvre (Paris, France), Sydney
Opera House (Sydney NSW, Australia), Empire State Building (New York), and The Burj Al
Arab (Dubai); among others (Perry 2010). These iconic buildings are known all over the world
and clearly demonstrate how architecture shapes local identity. Architectural works are generally
seen as works of art and cultural symbols. Therefore architecture is used to express cultural,
social, economic and environmental identity in many parts of the world (Mahgoub 2007).
Buildings have a huge impact on the environment because they change and uses (Whole
Building Design Guide 2017). The amount of resources consumed by buildings in their entire
lifecycle are large and have continued to increase over the years. In the U.S., it is estimated that
buildings contribute 40% of carbon emissions. Globally, buildings are the biggest consumers of
energy and emitters of greenhouse gases. These buildings contribute significantly to climate
change, which has become a life-threatening problem. Thus there is urgent need to develop and
implement strategies that will reduce energy consumption, minimize emissions and increase
resource efficiency of buildings. Some of these strategies include recycling of buildings and use
of renewable resources (Sagheb, Vafaeihosseini and Ramanchrla 2011). This essay discusses
architecture and the culture of sustainability. It focusses on the recycling of buildings.
Architecture in general has greatly revolutionized over the years. Many years ago, most
architects were only concerned about the general appearance and uniqueness of buildings. They

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wanted to design the most spectacular buildings without putting much emphasis on the impact of
these buildings to the occupants and environment. However, the continuing lifestyle changes,
global population growth and depletion of natural resources have prompted architects to start
considering environmental impacts of building designs and architectural styles they apply. This
has led to development of numerous sustainable design principles that guide architects on how to
design buildings with minimal environmental impacts. That is why today’s architects are always
looking for ways to increase resource efficiency of buildings without compromising indoor
requirements of occupants.
The concept of sustainability has become very important in the recent years for various
reasons. One of these reasons is the rapidly increasing global population, which has resulted to
increased exploitation of natural resources. In the context of this essay, the high global
population has led to increased demand for buildings. This means that more natural resources
have to be extracted and processed for use in the construction of more buildings. As a result of
this, the resources become depleted and the processes of extraction, processing, transportation
and use cause a lot of negative impacts on the environment. It is for this reason that the culture of
sustainability is very important in architecture as it helps in ensuring that buildings are resource
efficient and environmentally sound.
The best way to promote the culture of sustainability is to design buildings with an aim of
reducing the amount of resources they consume during construction, operation and maintenance
stages. But it does not end at that point – it extends to demolition stage where the buildings can
be reused or recycled. In general, sustainable architecture entails seeking ways of minimizing
negative environmental impacts caused by buildings throughout their lifecycle. This basically
requires architects to design environmentally friendly buildings i.e. energy- and water-efficient

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buildings that have low impact on the environment and human health. The processes of
designing, constructing, operating and maintaining buildings use a wide range of materials
including water and energy (Ragheb, El-Shimy and Ragheb 2016). The vast materials also
translate into large amounts of waste, emissions and pollution.
There are different ways in which architecture is used to promote the culture of
sustainability. One of them is ensuring efficient use of resources, including energy and water,
throughout the lifecycle of buildings (KMB Design Group 2015). Architects can achieve this by
ensuring proper building envelope (to regulate flow of heat, wind, industrial pollution, vapor
pressure, solar radiation to and from the building during different seasons of the year) (Iwaro and
Mwasha 2013), appropriate orientation and layout of rooms (to capitalize on natural ventilation,
daylighting and natural air conditioning), suitable construction materials, air-tightness (Chen,
Yang and Lu 2015), efficient construction methods that use less resources, incorporation of
automation systems (to ensure that resources are consumed appropriately and only when
needed), use of recycled and recyclable construction materials and constant monitoring of the
impacts of sustainable strategies applied. If a building is oriented properly, it will capitalize on
daylighting. This means that the building will consume zero energy for lighting during the day –
which reduces the total amount of energy consumed by the building. Other design features such
as large operable windows and wind catchers will also reduce a building’s energy consumption
because they use natural ventilation and air conditioning (Fu, Gong and Yu 2013). All these
strategies are known as passive design techniques because they use zero or very minimal energy,
compared to active design approaches. Majority of these passive design features were the ones
used during the ancient days and their efficiency has been improved using modern technology,
making modern buildings more energy and water efficient (Srivastav and Jones 2009).

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An example of a building with passive design features is Rockcote Design Center located
in Carrara, Queensland, Australia. Some of the passive design features of this building include:
large spaces with colored walls, functional layouts, large windows, building orientation,
sustainable building materials, etc. The building has been designed to minimize environmental
impact and still offer a comfortable indoor environment for its purpose. Other sustainable
features of the building are rainwater harvesting and supply system, wastewater treatment plant,
recycling center, ecological garden, energy monitoring and control systems and renewable
energy systems (Shao 2013).
Another way in which architecture promotes the culture of sustainability is through
reduction of pollution, waste generation and environmental degradation, among others. There are
several ways of reducing pollution, waste and environmental degradation of buildings. some of
these strategies include: use of locally available building materials to reduce pollution related to
transportation of these materials, use of environmentally friendly building materials, use of
recyclable building materials so that they can be converted into other useful products when the
building gets demolished, use of recycled materials to reduce exploitation and extraction of new
materials, designing and constructing buildings that generate their own energy (renewable
energy), and ensuring that the buildings use less energy. Another strategy is to incorporate water
harvesting, storage and treatment systems. These systems ensures that the building collects
rainwater, stores it and supplies it for various uses when needed. Water recycling and reuse are
other effective strategies of reducing water wastage by buildings. This can be achieved by
strategies such as using waste water from the kitchen for watering outdoor gardens or flushing
toilets.

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Developing and promoting the culture of sustainability through architecture should also
protect people’s health and improve their productivity. It is important to note that developing a
culture of sustainability does not mean compromising the quality of indoor comfort or air
quality. The opposite of this notion must prevail. In other words, architects should ensure that
sustainable buildings they design are able to provide high indoor air quality and comfort for
occupants. This can be achieved through natural ventilation, air conditioning and daylighting,
which uses minimal energy compared to mechanically and electrically powered systems. With
good indoor air quality and comfort, occupants’ productivity also increases because they will be
in conducive work environments. Architects know what has to be done so as to improve indoor
air quality and therefore they should play their role (Haines 2010).
Recycling of buildings is one of the most effective strategies of promoting the culture of
sustainability in building sector. Buildings are made of a wide range of materials, including
glass, metal, ceramics, bricks, concrete, etc. When a building is demolished, these materials are
usually disposed in landfills or burnt as wastes. Either of the two has negative impacts on the
environment. However, building materials can be recycled (converted into materials that may be
used for the alternative or same purpose) thus reducing the levels of extracting natural resources,
energy consumption, carbon generation, pollution and landfill (Blengini and Di Carlo 2010).
SOS Community Center in Chicago, IL, USA, is one of the examples of how buildings can be
constructed using recycled materials. The building was constructed using concrete aggregate
wastes that were collected from construction sites in adjacent Chicago area. The different types
of aggregates were artistically expressed to show when and how the concrete was poured when
the building was being constructed (Metcalf 2011).

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Recycling is a very important component of all aspects of sustainability: economic, social
and environmental. Through recycling, the volume of wastes reduces thus protecting the
environment and preventing depletion of natural resources (Izvercian and Ivascu 2015). This
approach of achieving sustainability has become more important considering the rapidly growing
global population, which has made resources limited and scarce. Today, the amount of resources
being consumed require more than one planet to sustain. This makes recycling a good approach
of promoting sustainability (Chavan 2014).
Recycling of buildings has numerous benefits. It conserves raw materials, conserves
energy, reduces pollution, reduces landfill and saves money (Saghafi and Teshnizi 2011). When
a building is recycled, the need for extraction of natural resources reduces. This helps in reducing
the amount of energy that would be used to extract, process and transport these materials (Ng
and Chau 2015). The pollution and all costs associated with these processes are also avoided. In
addition, recycling ensures that no wastes will be disposed in landfills thus reducing the negative
environmental impacts associated with landfilling. Generally, recycling of buildings has minimal
environmental impacts and saves more money than disposal of building material waste in
landfills or incineration (Tyskeng and Finnveden 2010). For this reason, recycling is the best way
to go for the purposes of promoting the culture of sustainability.
Another crucial strategy in which architecture can promote the culture of sustainability is
by using renewable resources. These resources can be replaced naturally and used repeatedly.
They include wood, leather, paper, low organic volatile compounds (VOC) paint, ecological
concrete, wool carpeting, bamboo flooring, paper insulation boards, etc. Buildings made of
renewable resources are usually adaptive to the local environment and are easy to maintain. This
reduces the amount of energy they consume and the cost of maintenance. If architects can

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incorporate renewable materials when designing buildings, depletion of natural resources will
reduce thus protecting the environment.
Buildings are among the major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, which are
worsening the global problem of climate change. These gases are emitted during different stages
of a building’s lifecycle: construction, operation, maintenance, demolition and disposal.
Architects have a big role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions during each of these stages. If
the buildings are designed properly, their resource efficiency will be very high. It means that
they will consume less resources and generate minimal waste at each stage of their lifecycle.
This is what sustainable development or building is all about – consuming less resources without
compromising the quality, functionality, safety and durability of the building.
Developing the culture of sustainability in architecture has been driven by the need to
protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. The increasing global
population and lifestyle changes have led to very high demand of resources, particularly energy
and water, in buildings. If this trend continues, future generations may not have an opportunity to
enjoy the quality of life some of us are enjoying. The reasons for this are high levels of pollution,
waste generation and depletion of natural resources. Architects can reduce environmental
impacts of buildings by designing buildings that consume less resources throughout their
lifecycle. For this to be achieved, it requires relevant stakeholders (architects, designers,
engineers, government authorities, contractors and occupants) to develop the culture of
sustainability. By so doing, everybody will ensure that minimal resources are used at the
building’s lifecycle where they are concerned.
One of the most effective approaches of building the culture of sustainability is recycling.
Through recycling, used materials are renewed and reused thus reducing or eliminating the need

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to extract new materials. This is very useful in protecting the environment and improving
people’s health and quality of life. For the potential benefits of recycling to be fully realized,
architects should design buildings that can be constructed, operated and maintained with
recycled, recyclable and renewable materials and resources.
However, promoting the culture the sustainability is still challenging in the building
sector and it requires participation and cooperation of all relevant stakeholders, including
architects, designers, engineers, contractors, developers, government authorities and the general
public. Some of the challenges include the high initial cost of implementing sustainability
strategies and the attitude or belief of unsustainable systems or approaches. Nevertheless, the
government should formulate policies and a regulatory framework that promote sustainable
building.
It is also worth noting that a well-designed building improves indoor air quality and
thermal comfort thus enhancing the health and comfort of occupants. Therefore passive design
systems and other approaches such as recycling do not compromise the quality of indoor
environment or the functionality, safety and durability of the building. Instead, these approaches
promote sustainability thus protecting the environment. Therefore as we shape our identity
through design, production and use of architecture, we should also aim at building the culture of
sustainability so as to protect the environment for ourselves and the future generations.
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