Sustainability Concerning Contemporary Designs - Essay Example

Introduction

The environment sustainability is critically important since the human lives are contained and taken care of by such undertakings. Apart from that, some underlying benefits accrue that revolves around the societal managements, which are significant to the global interactions by the organisms. However, the contemporary designs that include architectural project and the commercial product engagements tend to hinder or rather facilitate the environmental sustainability (Bender, Judith, & Beilin, 2012). Mainly, they crave for reduction of the negative influence on the environment through the observed human activities such as the constructions that lead to erected buildings on the original set up. Importantly, the paper focuses on the various areas that contribute to the hindrance or encourage the sustainability issue by concentrating on the two highlighted designs. Finally, the essay aims at exposing employed conceptual tools that entail the needs and the decent coverage concerning the initiation of the sustainability issue.

Importance of Facilitating Sustainability

The environmental sustainability is crucial due to the positive aspects of the engagements. Mostly, the area introduces the development needs by the architects such as the improved infrastructure. Secondly, the integration of the sustainability into the economic, social and the environmental considerations tend to boost the trading activities. As such, the interaction between the humanity is improved and so is the coherence and booming business initiations in the society. Further, the sustainability issue provides the ground for the incorporation of both the human needs and escalating the ethical problems in the community. The reduction of the negative cost of side effects is necessary and maximising the activities that enhance it. Therefore as much as the process of sustainability faces both the advantages and disadvantages, the architects should aim at involving in undertakings that encourage it rather than negative engagement. Hence, the experts should concentrate on both the architectural project and the commercial product (Hernández, 2010).

Architectural Project

The architectural project refers to the involvement of the professionals to oversee the overall development of the building designs, production of the construction documents and the specified requirements of the practice. Many examples present themselves as the architectural project and are most sustainable. They include the Arizona State University Student Health Services, Bud Clark Commons, Bushwick Inlet Park, Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) Federal Building Modernization, Gateway Center-SUNY-ESF College of Environmental Forestry and John & Frances Angelos Law Center among others (Guenther & Vittori, 2008).

Chiefly, the sustainable architecture tends to minimise the drawbacks of the environmental degradation of the buildings by improving the efficiency and moderation of the material usage, energy conservation and focusing on the management of the ecosystem. The buildings put forth by this technology crave at a conscious approach to improving the sustainability. Of importance is the advanced ecological design that ensures the today's actions and decisions do not inhibit the opportunities of the future generations.

Considerably, the energy efficiency is the most pressing issue in the life of the building regarding the sustainable environment. Therefore, they need to use both the passive and the active techniques to reduce the energy consumption by the buildings and instead, increase their power generation and captivities. About the information, the efficient plans are advanced to boost on the heating systems, ventilation requirements and cooling systems such as the arrangements of the rooms and windows' orientations. Alternatively, the proper employment of the ratio between the building heights and the streets should be encouraged in the urban planning system. Hence, the efficient heating system should encompass the cost-effective elements to improve on the co-habiting by the humanity. Finally, the coordination of the building of different but favourable arrangements facilitates the organisation of the human society to contain all the relevant elements for the survival requirements (Iyengar, 2015).

Nonetheless, the architects should embrace the importance of facilitating the renewable energy generation such as the solar panels. Informatively, the active solar devices, for example, the photovoltaic solar panels provide the electric power that is sustainable for usage. The power generated depends on the efficiency, the orientation, and the climate change. Therefore, the expertise should ensure that the devices range according to the needs of the locality. Besides, the roofs of the buildings should face the sun to allow the panels to collect the maximum amount of the energy. In the northern hemisphere, the orientation should face true south to enable the maximum power generation by the device. Besides, the electricity production is maximised during the winter season by tilting the collector at an angle beyond the horizontal latitude, +15° while in summer, the variation should cover latitude -15° for efficiency maximisation. Thus, the take relates to the ethical and escalation of human needs through scaling and organising the society inhabited by people.

As well, the mechanism through which the architectural project influence and facilitate the environmental sustainability is the sustainability of the building materials. Encouragingly, the materials are recycled or considered as the second-hand substance, which includes the reclaimed lumber and the recycled copper. The initiations highlight on the reduced energy employed in the production of such materials that leads to the sustainability achievement. Conversely, the low volatile organic compounds are used instead of the building insulation materials such as the recycled denim and the cellulose insulation. The objects do not contain toxic compounds that are harmful to the human health as opposed to some building insulation materials.

Another issue embraced is that of the textile sustainability standards. Conclusively, the sustainable targets must be focused on that touches on the various proposals concerning the rationalisation of the desired standards of the landscape to provide for the sustainability of the building materials. Above all, the waste management carries importance due to applied methods of disposal. As such, the waste includes those from the manufacturing organisations and the agricultural industries. The architects aim at the utilisation of the materials on the site by mixing things like grey water system for their use on the garden beds. The involvement technique can lower the wastes discharged by the businesses thereby focusing on the sustainability. The decent coverage ensured by minimization of substances that lead to interference with the ecosystems and safeguarding the biodiversity (Jefferis & Madsen, 2010).

In contrast, architectural project impact on the environmental sustainability, which lowers the ultimate achievement of the underlying objective of creating desirable society. One of the major ways is the emissions attributed to the toxic gas affects the population, and it is a challenge to the industries that produce the energy. Despite the drawback highlighted, the architects should embrace the methods that minimise the hindrance to environmental sustainability and which are cost effective.

Commercial Product

Notably, the commercial product means the commodity that can fetch money in the market rather than the developed goods. For instance, salvage products, consumable goods such as the potato chips and marinades (Bossink, 2012). At this point, the most preferred area of exposure entails the recycling process, deconstruction strategy, careful usage, quality things, toxic materials and secondary coating. Besides, they tend to pose various effects on the environment. Ideally, one of the coverage concentrates on the environmental cleanup (Bonda & Sosnowchik, 2006).

Observably, the involvement enhances the sustainability needs in the society. Conclusively, the act ensures that the application of the old and used waste products is available for reuse. The engagement does not only improve the cleanliness of the community but also craves for the reduced air and water pollutions. Ethically, the involvement aims at ensuring that the biodiversity is safeguarded through contributing to maintaining a balance between the living organisms and the environment coverage. Besides, the sustainability of the environment is achieved by embracing a community free from waste products.

Bradshaw (2015) argued that another issue settled on as the benefit, and the contributive factor to the enhancement of the sustainability is the maintenance of the textiles. Impressively, the conversion of wasted materials back to same new products ensures that fewer resources are disposed of as unwanted trash is sent to the landfills. Mostly, the materials reprocessed encompass paper, plastics, glasses and above all, the aluminium cans. The resources are recycled in a large quantity to boost on the economic requirements of individualities within the society. Lastly, the issue centres on the minimization of the interference with the ecosystem and contributes to the societal sustainability (Brown, 2008).

Conversely, the engagement rests on the energy saving capabilities. Primarily, the process improves on the energy usage through the recycled materials. For instance, the single aluminium can be recycle-able to save on productive energy that is capable of running a TV for approximately three hours. Similarly, the idea rests on the consumption rate of the energy by the said set. Importantly, it is possible because the global warming is lowered by such initiatives, rendering the coming generation safe to employ the processes. Further, the activity highlights the pressing issue of minimising the ecosystem interference by the human activities.

Cordell, Drangert, and White (2009) stated that the underlying issue needs to have some useful mechanisms to reach the ultimate goal of saving the planet from irresponsible recycling activities. The first undertaking includes the elimination of only the unwanted house garbage by the households. The disposal should be in boxes or suitable containers for recyclable products such as the papers, plastics, and the glasses. Finally, the involved personality can take the wastes to the local recycling centre where the processing of such products takes place (Duhigg, 2013).

Receptively, the other involvement is that of the avoidance of using the plastic bags and papers. The materials are most likely to pollute the environment as opposed to the conservation requirements. Notably, another reason as to why the bags and newspapers avoided is due to their useful nature in filling the landfills. Lastly yet importantly, during the shopping activities, people should focus on the products with least packaging to reduce instances of wasting the packages since massive financial resources used in wrapping the products. Practically, the two undertakings help in reducing the accumulation of garbage and which aims at covering on the safeguarding the biodiversity.

Equally, another issue focused on as the commercial product is that of the deconstruction plan. It refers to the careful dismantling of the building to recover the possible materials used for construction purposes (Gee, 2007). The recovery of debris and the by-products are beneficial in that it allows for the reuse and recycling of materials. An example of the deconstruction services carried out by the individuals include the salvaged materials, which focus on the reused for the remanufacturing and recycling process via turning damaged wood into mulch or cement applied in the new foundations. The services offered tend to highlight the ethical and sustainability requirements through creating and maintaining the positive externalities that escalate the reduction of the wastes in the community. Besides, it enforces the lowered costs in the construction sites due to the recycling ability (Golding, 2012).

Nonetheless, the second advantage of embracing the deconstruction services is the fostering of the growth of a new market. Specifically, the used and recovered materials sold to the salvage firm, where the attached market value being higher than that of the demolition due to the acute care is taken during the deconstruction process. Significantly, the third point aims at creating the job opportunities to the population. The engagement is labor-intensive that involves demanding work. Here, the process encompasses the removal of salvaged materials, contributing to the building needs, preparing the necessary textiles such as sorting and hauling the recovered substances.

Lastly, the fourth benefit revolves around the environmental advantages. Apparently, the recovered materials obtainable from the deconstruction process help to reduce the landfills in the society. Through the recycling process, the invested energy is that preserved lowers the human efforts directed to expend additional energy sources in preparing other materials. Hence, the environmental pollution is considerably reduced. The deconstruction contributes to the less damaging effect on the local sites such as the soil and vegetation. The process leads to fewer dust particles and noise in the environment as compared to the demolition services. The deconstruction helps in the process of environment sustainability and ethical issues by ensuring that the evaluation and reuse of the construction materials come into play (Kalin, Weygant, Rosen, & Regener, 2011).

Preferably, the third issue covering the commercial product is a careful usage of the materials. The long-term costs of the building materials ensured through the evaluation from the time of gathering of raw materials to that of the disposal. Such costs paid by the consistent players and which entails the customers, owners of the business, occupants and most importantly, the environment. The life cycle of the materials embraces three stages, which encircle the pre-building stage, building phase and the post building phase. The pre-building phase includes the carriage of materials to the construction site. It involves many instances of environmental destructions. Therefore, qualified personalities are needed to conduct such services to reduce the problem. Alternatively, the building stage employs the material usage at the point of the assembly into a structure and which involves the maintenance and the repair that covers the productive life of the materials.

The materials should be carefully selected in regards to minimization of the construction wastes. When the concrete building materials are exposed for a long time, they may harm the life of habitats. Therefore, the constructors should be highlighted of the increased awareness regarding the environmental health problems and the proper usage. About such, regular maintenance and replacement that lead to the elongated life-circle need to be encouraged. Finally, the post-building phase ought to focus on the building materials when they are outdated. Substantially, the materials are carefully used and recycled to enhance the energy coverage that limits the wastes that go into landfills. The careful usage of the materials contributes to the environment sustainability and ethical escalation via the reduction of the interferences with the ecosystem as observed through the waste minimization process.

Importantly, the fourth coverage that revolves around the commercial product and which facilitates the environmental sustainability is quality things. For instance, the individual involvement in the businesses that focuses on the provision of clean energy and the formulation of policies to stimulate the investment in energy efficiency that improves on the sustainability programs. Further, posting the limits on the carbon transmission in the environment tend to reduce the impact on the society. Apparently, the idea of encouraging quality of things settles on the double practicality that makes sure that the drone activity is done worthwhile and coheres with the sustainability requirements. On the other hand, the strategic optimism facilitates the ideal coverage as it combines with the tactical pessimism and ensures that the high goals achieved. The strategies prompt the quality things achievements by controlling misuse of resources such as those applied in the productive projects. The issue aims at improving the sustainable environment by organising the human societies accordingly to enhance the underlying ultimate objective and the achievement of possible human needs in the world (Suzuki & McConnell, 1999).

Observably, the fifth factor of the commercial product is the toxic materials. Principally, the chemicals, polymers, plastics and the derivatives need to be disposed of properly for the improvements of the sustainable community. The applied technology must encourage the cross-cutting and the multidisciplinary approaches to address the societal needs. Moreover, the project may crave for the sustainability provisions via the methods that tend to reduce the carbon footprint, pollution, and toxicity. Such technology provides the broken ground for the solution entirety and finding the suitable sustainable alternatives such as an application of chemicals. However, the area points out the demanding requirement of the sustainable environment by aiming at creating and maintaining positive externalities in the region.

Recognisably, the sixth and the last factor rotate around the secondary coating activities. The issue enhances the attainment of the desirable environment by encouraging the re-usage of waste products due to the layer of substances bestowed on them. Besides, the practice leads to the reduction of the materials on the surfaces, which may be the eyesore to the entire human race in the community. Admirably, the substances can perform their respective operations for some longer time before becoming unproductive. An example of such materials includes the iron rods, which encouraged for construction purposes. The practice enhances the sustainability of the environment via lowering the interference with the ecosystem regarding the reuse of products.

Arguably, many problems arise from the engagement of the commercial activities. One of the disadvantages and which hinder the sustainability of the environment entails the increased global warming due to the constant heating of the surroundings through the greenhouse gas emissions. The second contributive factor requires erected buildings made from the non-renewable sources that deplete energy. Thirdly, offices consume significant amounts of paper, some of which end up in the landfills as wastes. Lastly, the city contains various people that rush for work due to traffic jam and end up polluting the atmosphere. Though the commercial product experiences both the advantages and limitations, the architects should employ methods in their artefacts that reduce the environmental degradation and instead, improve on the sustainability requirements (Suzuki & McConnell, 1999).

Conclusion

Positively, various issues contribute to the facilitation of the environmental sustainability. One of the initiatives includes the proper management of the architectural project using efficient modernization of the material usage by conducting recycling process. The energy maintenance achieved through the standardisation of the building capability and the ecosystem improvement embraced by applying environmental friendly waste disposal mechanism. The related drawbacks encircle the toxic gas emanating from the industrial discharge. Equally, the commercial product aspired at increasing the sustainability through the cleaning activities concerning the waste while the toxic substances eliminated via chemical use. The problems emanating from the involvement entails the global warming contributed to the greenhouse effect. Last of all, the energy depletion led by non-renewable sources. Nonetheless, increasing awareness in all the fields about the significance of sustainability will lessen the hindrances to its achievement but instead, skyrocket its facilitation (Suzuki & McConnell, 1999).