The UniCube Sustainable Dorm Design

7/19/2017 The UniCube Sustainable Dorm Design | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
The UniCube Sustainable Dorm Design

ARCHITECTURE
07/30/2008under Architecture, Green Building, Green Design Competitions 1 Comments
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by Mike Chino
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Sheathed in walls of living green and resembling a pagoda emblazoned with a curving copper
rooftop, this UniCube dormitory utilizes an impressive set of sustainable features to regulate its
temperature, harvest rainwater, and produce its own energy. Conceived by Andrew
Southwood-Jones, the design recently took top honors for Architecture in Autodesks 2008
Student Design Challenge.
The Autodesk Student Design Challenge was founded to encourage young designers to
showcase their skills in industrial design, architecture, civil and mechanical engineering, and 3D
http://inhabitat.com/andrew-southwood-jones-unicube-dorm/ 1/16
animation. Paul Mailhot, Autodesks senior director of worldwide education programs, said that
It is exciting to see the creativity of todays students come to life through sophisticated and
innovative designs . . The Build Something design contest is just one of the programs we are
undertaking to challenge students to put their imagination and passion into action through
design . . . The competition encouraged students from around the world to create a
sustainable marvel and resulted in a set of stunning nalists, including Roland Cernats eye-
catching Oriens Glider. Search articles
NEWS ENVIRONMENT ARCHITECTURE DESIGN MORE
Andrews designed the UniCube with several guiding principles in mind: it had to incorporate
sustainable building strategies, maximize available space, and balance it all with an attractive
aesthetic. To satisfy these parameters he envisioned a facade outtted with insulating living
walls and an aerodynamic copper roof that channels wind to ventilate the structure without the
need for air conditioning. Sun-tracking solar panels provide power to the building and a
rainwater collection system channels water for use in irrigation, toilets, and laundry.
The award-winning prototype was realized using Autodesks Revit Architecture software. We
love seeing inspired student designs such as this that pave the path to a sustainable future.
+ Autodesk 2008 Student Design Challenge
Via jetsongreen.com
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INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Ed Mazria from

Architecture 2030
ARCHITECTURE
05/03/2011under Architecture, Environment, Green Talks, Interviews, New York City 6 Comments
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by Geoff Manaugh
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In 2006, Ed Mazria and his New Mexico-based non-prot organization, Architecture 2030,
released the 2030 Challenge to get the building industry to turn completely carbon neutral by
the year 2030. As buildings are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions
worldwide, Mazria believes that 48% of total US energy consumption could be reduced if the
building sector would take the proper measures to reduce their carbon footprint to zero.Read
ahead for our exclusive interview with Ed Mazria as he discusses the challenges that lay ahead.
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Geoff Manaugh: First, how did you choose the specic targets of the
2030 Challenge?
Ed Mazria
: Well, lets see. The way we developed the 2030 Challenge was by working backward from
the greenhouse gas emissions reductions that scientists were telling us we needed to reach by
2050. Working backwards from those reductions, and looking at, specically, the building
sector which is responsible for about half of all emissions you can see what we need to do
today. You can see the targets that we need to reach so we can avoid hitting what the
scientists have called catastrophic climate change.
If you do that, you see that we need an immediate, 50% reduction in fossil fuel, greenhouse
gas-emitting energy in all new building construction. And since we renovate about as much as
we build new, we need a 50% reduction in renovation, as well. If you then increase that
reduction by 10% every ve years so that by 2030 all new buildings use no greenhouse gas-
emitting fossil fuel energy to operate then you reach a state thats called carbon neutral. And
you get there by 2030. That way we meet the targets that climate scientists have set out for us.
Thats how we came up with the 2030 Challenge meaning a 50% reduction today, and going
to carbon neutral by 2030.
[Image: A chart of Architecture 2030s emissions goals; via Metropolis. Also available as a
PDF].
Geoff: When you say that the building sector is responsible for half of
all greenhouse gas emissions, though, do you mean that in a direct
or an indirect sense? Because surely houses arent just sitting there
emitting carbon dioxide all day its the power plants that those
houses are connected to.
Ed
: Its direct. The number is actually 48% of total US energy consumption that can be attributed
to the building sector, most of which 40% of total consumption can be attributed just to
building operations. Thats heating, lighting, cooling, and hot water. There are others running
pumps and things like that. But 40% of total US energy consumption and greenhouse gas
emissions can be attributed just to building operations.
Geoff: Whats the other 8%?
Ed
: The other 8% is greenhouse gas emissions released in producing the materials for buildings
materials that architects can specify as well as during the construction process itself.
But the major part, you see 40% is design. Every time we design a building, we set up its
energy consumption pattern and its greenhouse gas emissions pattern for the next 50-100
years. Thats why the building sector and the architecture sector is so critical. It takes a long
time to turn over whereas the transportation sector, on wheels, in this country, turns over
once every twelve years.
[Image: U.S. Energy Consumption by Sector. A reorganization of existing data combining the
energy required to run residential, commercial, and industrial buildings along with the
embodied energy of industry-produced materials like carpet, tile, and hardware exposes
architecture as the hidden polluter. Graphic by Criswell Lappin, via Metropolis].
Geoff: Speaking of which, youve pointed out elsewhere that SUVs

only represent about 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the US
yet they receive the brunt of the medias attention and anger. The
real culprit is wastefully designed architecture.
Ed
: People must remember, though, that this doesnt let the US automobile industry off the hook!
Cars and SUVs are still part of the problem and we need to attack that part of the problem.
And there are solutions. One of the solutions, for example, is to use plug-in hybrid ex-fuel
technology. Plug-in meaning you can collect energy on your rooftop, with photovoltaic cells,
and then plug your car into a battery at night, and drive 30-50 miles on a charge. Then you can
use hybrid technology to get incredible miles; then you can use ex-fuel so you put high-
cellulose alcohol or ethanol into the tank, rather than fossil fuels. So there are solutions in that
sector.
Geoff
: It seems like the 2030 Challenge has met with a lot of enthusiasm from both the American
Institute of Architects and the US Conference of Mayors. Is that the case, or were you hoping
for a better response?
Ed
: The response was immediate, and very gratifying. Right when we issued the challenge, in
January of 2006, the American Institute of Architects adopted it for all its 78,000 members.
That did two things. One, it got the wheels turning within the architecture and building sector to
gure out how to meet the Challenge. Two, it began getting resources and information to
architects and to designers about how to change course.
Just as important, the US Conference of Mayors then adopted the 2030 Challenge in a
resolution that was passed at their annual convention. That was passed unanimously. The
2030 Challenge was adopted for all buildings in all cities. Thats very important.
Geoff: As far as implementing the Challenge goes, it that as simple

as sending out a new pamphlet to housing contractors that explains
how they can change their building techniques? Or is it as complex
as starting whole new university degrees?
Ed
: Well, rst you have to inform. People really have to be aware of this issue. Universities dont
really understand their role in this whole situation. So the rst step is to inform and weve
actually gone a long way in that. Weve done a lot of magazine articles and other publications;
weve done public speaking; and theres also our website so were making an impact.
What were really doing is changing the conversation. Through changing or expanding the
conversation, weve been able to issue the 2030 Challenge. We would not have been able to
issue that had we not changed the conversation. So we issued the Challenge, which was
picked up by the profession and then by the cities, and that was absolutely critical. Now
businesses are picking it up. For instance, at the same time that we were issuing the Challenge,
the World Business Council for Sustainable Development out with a call for carbon neutral
buildings by 2050. So weve asked the AIA to begin a dialogue with them to get that done by
2030, instead.
Also, since that time, I gave a talk at a conference hosted by the International Council for
Local Environmental Initiatives. ICLEIs membership consists of about 475 cities worldwide.
Its kind of a global counterpart to the US Conference of Mayors though many cities in the US
are members. At the end of that conference, they adopted the 2030 Challenge. Theyre now
bringing it up with their global Board of Directors, to discuss adopting the Challenge
worldwide. Actually, adopted is not the right word they incorporated the Challenge into their
targets.
Geoff: Do you think the speed with which the Challenge has been
adopted reects a kind of embarrassment over the failure of the
Kyoto Protocol?
Ed
: Thats possible. Its also now more accepted that the science is rm; people are accepting that
the debate is essentially over, and that we must move from debate to action. But scientists
have given us a very, very small window of opportunity here. We have essentially ten years to
begin to get this situation under control. Otherwise well hit tipping points beyond which there
will be very little anyone can do to inuence things. So theres a new sense of urgency.
What has been lacking so far are specics on how to attack the problem. Most initiatives are
general, without real teeth behind them, saying that were going to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by this much, by this date. But I think that the people who have adopted these
initiatives are now looking for ways to implement them, to meet their own targets. The 2030
Challenge gives them a very specic way to do this and I think thats the main reason why
this has taken hold as quickly as it has.
Geoff: In the meantime, youve seen corporations like Wal-Mart try to

reinvent themselves as pro-green, pro-sustainability rms, because
theyve seen that there is a prot motive. It makes sense for the
environment but it also makes sense for shareholders. The shift
isnt necessarily altruistic.
Ed
: I think its going mainstream for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is what we just
talked about: the urgency of the issue. There are many people out there with a conscience,
and they think about the future rather than just their own immediate needs. They think about
their children and their grandchildren. I think thats moving some of this. But I think youre right:
I think another part of this is essentially self-serving, that going green may give you a leg up on
the competition. It may save you money. It may enhance your image in the community, which
means your business can maneuver with more ease and fewer restrictions. The real point is:
whatever the motivation, its going in the right direction.
Geoff: So what roles do the architecture and design schools play in

all this?
Ed
: An AIA COTE report came out last year, called Ecology and Design. It was a year-plus long
study by a panel of AIA COTE members. Every school should read this.
From page 43: Schools and teachers are discovering and creating new ways to incorporate
sustainability into studios and other coursework. There appears to be more out there than
there was 5 or 10 years ago and the efforts are deeper, more layered, and more complex. But
this next part is whats important: But our sample includes not a single example where the
issues have informed a true transformation of the core curriculum. As promising as many of the
courses are, it must be said that sustainable design remains a fringe activity in the schools.
It gets worse:
Many of the most highly rated architecture schools show little interest in
sustainable design, according to our research. The Ivy League schools, which
consistently draw top applicants, have not made a noticeable effort to
incorporate environmental strategies into their coursework. With few exceptions
notably California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, our top winner
the same may be said of all the programs listed in the 2005 Design Intelligence
ranking of top schools. The implication is that ecology is not considered a design
agenda but, rather, an ethical or technical concern. If the best programs,
instructors, and students do not embrace ecology as an inspiration for good
design, what chance does this endeavor have to transform the industry?
Now I want to turn to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, their top winner. This is Cal Poly: the most
signicant drawback of the Sustainable Environments program is the fact that it is an elective
minor and not an integral part of the core curriculum. Though enrollment in program grows
every year, currently only about 20 percent of CAED students take part. Now, listen to this:
Dean Jones, who is new to the school, sees the Sustainable Environments minor as a pilot
program for the entire department: It is a long-term goal to integrate this kind of approach
within the core curriculum.' Long-term.
You have ten years basically to change course across the entire building sector, and the top-
ranking ecological design program has a sustainable development minor. The top school. And
its a long-term goal for them. So you get the picture.
Schools must transform and they must transform immediately. So weve organized what we
term the 2010 Imperative. That will explain to all the schools what we think needs to be done
today, immediately, as well as beginning with the next school year and, to complete the
process, what needs to be done by 2010. By 2010 were looking at total ecological literacy in
architectural education.
Geoff: The 2010 Imperativeis a global emergency teach-in

scheduled to occur in about three weeks time. Could you tell me a
little bit more about that?
Ed
: The teach-in will happen on February 20th. It will be a live webcast from the New York
Academy of Sciences, from 12-noon to 3:30. It will have four speakers: Dr. James Hansen of
NASA will talk about the science and the implications of global warming, and the urgency for
action. Ill talk about the building sector and what we need to do and why and how
education is a critical piece of this whole thing. Susan Szenasy will do the introductions, and
talk about all the design disciplines. Shell also moderate the panel at the end. And Chris
Luebkeman will give a talk called Doing Is Believing which is pretty interesting and hell
talk about Arups projects all over the world. That should take about an hour and a half.
Then it will be open to questions and answers and general discussion from people typing-
in, live, from anywhere in the world. So its as participatory as we can get. Well also have a live
audience of about 300-plus, made up of people from the nine New York City-area design
schools.
Geoff: Have universities and institutions outside of New York signed

up to participate?
Ed
: The teach-in has been supported by the ACSA, the AIA Committee on the Environment, the
US Green Building Council, and a lot of other schools. Weve received emails now probably
about 15,000 from people saying that theyre going to log on. Weve got schools that are
going to be canceling classes that day and creating full-day events around the teach-in so its
very exciting. Were getting responses from everywhere: Berkeley, Harvard, Cal-Poly-San Luis
Obispo, UW-Milwaukee. 50 to 100 come in a day, including practitioners and architecture
oces that are going to get their whole oce to participate. Those oces will also get
continuing education credits for their architects.
You know, you can give a lecture to 1000 people, or to 500 people, or to 300 people but this
way youre talking to tens of thousands of people, in one day. Its a really good way to use the
technology to get the word out.
Geoff: Some of these changes are going to require a pretty major

conceptual change, I think. Youre moving from an artistic or
historical approach to architecture where architecture is something
of an expressive design medium and youre shifting toward an
approach that treats the built environment as something whose
effect is scientically measurable. Ecologically speaking, a design
can literally be good or bad, no matter what it looks like, or whether
or not the client likes it. Do you see this as a possible issue down the
road?
Ed
: I think you can incorporate both personal expression and aesthetics into ecological literacy.
Ecological literacy just gives you another tool with which to design. Architecture is not just pure
sculpture; its not just pure function; its not just pure performance its all of those. And so
what must be added and integrated into the design curriculum is this notion of ecological
literacy. You cannot design anymore without being literate in this area otherwise youre doing
more harm than good.
[Image: U.S. Electrical Energy Consumption, via Architecture 2030].
Geoff: Beyond the teach-in, how do you anticipate getting this

message into the schools and design oces? Is this a question of
issuing textbooks and PDFs, or just organizing more events?
Ed
: Youre not going to do it one school at a time. There are too many schools. You have
hundreds of thousands of students being educated today, and they are not fully ecologically
literate. They dont have a total grasp of the global situation were facing, and what must
happen next. And its not just the students their instructors arent fully aware of this, either.
So we propose to do this in two ways. One is an immediate method, and one is a short-term
method. The immediate method is well-dened: we will address every design school in the
world, globally, and we will ask every instructor to add one sentence to every problem that they
issue in their design studios. Thats all were asking them to do. Were not asking them to
change the assignments were asking them to add one sentence.
That sentence is: That the project be designed to engage the environment in a way that
dramatically reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuels.
This will set off a chain reaction, globally, throughout the student population. Because what the
students will do at the outset of a new assignment is they will research the issue. Theyll then
come back to the class with all the information they can nd and all the information, by the
way, is available on the internet. They have access very, very quickly to this information. Theyll
then bring everyone else in that class, including the instructor, up to speed on the issues, the
design strategies, and the technologies that are available and part of the design palette. Out of
that, universities and professional studios will become instruments for transforming design. If
you bring creative problem-solving to the issue, many, many different ways of addressing the
problem will come about in ways we cant even imagine. And thats the beauty of making this
change immediately. We can then work on a systematic approach, between 2007 and 2010, to
bring true ecological literacy to all the design schools.
[Image: Materials Testing Facility, Vancouver, designed by Busby Perkins + Will. The design
incorporates recycled and reused materials extensively throughout the building, and other
sustainable (green) building design concepts, such as natural ventilation and solar shading
have also been utilized. Via Architecture 2030].
Geoff: In that same time period, do you plan to approach large-scale

home developers, like Toll Brothers or KB Home, to inspire
environmental change on a larger and more immediate scale?
Mazria
: You have to remember that were a very small organization! [laughs] I think, though, that a
growing movement around these issues, and around the 2030 Challenge, is beginning to take
shape, so I would imagine that there are many other people in other industries who may begin
to embrace these changes. For example, theres an organization called ConSol, and they
address the mass-market housing industry in terms of the issues we just talked about. Theres
the Urban Land Institute. Theres the Congress for the New Urbanism. They all specically
address how such issues affect development.
Geoff: What about designing a kind of prototype development, or

model village, that might serve to exemplify the 2030 Challenge?
Mazria
: To teach by design? I think thats happening. On our website, we have a whole section on
projects that begin to meet the targets, and we do have buildings that t that category, that
weve designed over the years. In fact, in the 1980s, we designed the Mt. Airy Library that
reduced its consumption of fossil fuels over an average building of that type, in that region, by
over 80%. Just through design.
In fact, in the early 1980s, right after the rst energy crisis, the US Department of Energy
sponsored anywhere between twelve and eighteen architects around the country to design
very low-energy buildings. I would say probably every one of those architects demonstrated
that you could get reductions of 50-80% just through design! There were many, many buildings
built in the late 1970s, and during the 1980s, using passive solar design, and day-lighting
principles, that actually put those buildings off the grid.
So you have a wealth of information generated way back then. It wasnt until oil went down to
$10 a barrel, and the Reagan Administration came in and basically killed off all these initiatives,
that we really came to rely on fossil fuels. Now our buildings are sealed up; they have no real
integrated relationship with the exterior environment. When we talk about a connection to the
environment in architecture today, for the past 30 or 50 years weve just been talking about a
visual connection. We havent been talking about a real, integrated, energy-based connection
between the building and its environment. And thats where the term open systems comes
from and where we need to be headed.
[Image: School of Nursing and Student Community Center, Houston, designed by BNIM. From
their website: Goals of increased air quality, increased natural daylighting, reduction of
polluting emissions and run-off, and increased user satisfaction and productivity were achieved
using the LEED rating system. Via Architecture 2030].
Geoff: If you drew up actual plans for a carbon neutral city of the
future, though, wouldnt that give people a clearer sense of what all
this will look like? Which would then help both the clients and the
architects understand what they need to do next?
Ed
: I think thats a really good question because having some imagery for what were talking
about is very important in terms of us acting. But for only one person to come up with a plan or
an image that might actually do more damage than good. I think you need a whole range of
aesthetics and ideas to take shape, and what shakes out will be those ideas and solutions that
work. I think tying it to just one visual image would not be helpful.
Geoff: Youve also talked about the importance of new design

software software that can model, in real-time, the projected
energy-use of an architectural design. That would help architects
meet their emissions targets. Has there been any progress on that
front?
Mazria
: Every time we make a decision we reorient the building, we twist it, we add glazing, we use
this kind of material, we add a shading device, we reposition or realign a wall we have to
have, in the corner, the energy implications of that. It should be as simple as just two numbers:
one would indicate whether were meeting our target of a 50% reduction, or a 60% reduction,
or a 70% reduction how close we are to hitting that target. The other would indicate the
actual embodied energy in the materials and construction of the building. If we had those two
numbers as we design our buildings, then, intuitively, as designers, we would understand the
results of our actions.
These design tools are a critical piece, and the major players are AutoDesk, Google we need
them to take this on almost as an emergency effort, to put this on a fast-track. In fact, Green
Building Studio is already working diligently in this area. Students can send their design over
to them and get an analysis back in, I think, fteen minutes for free. But the companies that
supply us with these tools really need to step up to the plate. The federal government can help,
or the larger states that have resources of money can help, by putting some dollars into R&D
and getting those tools out there immediately.
Geoff: Could you issue a kind of Software Challenge to help kick

things into gear?
Ed
: We could. I think that, because the AIA adopted the 2030 Challenge, you would see now that
the federal government and the larger states and the cities, and the companies would not
be far behind. Adopting the Challenge was critical in getting more movement in this area. I
think as more cities adopt the Challenge, and want to understand how they can implement it,
theyre going to require certain kinds of software, and the software companies will be
competing to supply that software. Right now were in the process of creating a huge market
for those tools. If the Challenge gets adopted by the schools, then even the schools will be
looking for this software. Were helping to put a market in place so the software companies
will have to act.
[Image: Energy Savings Buildings, Albuquerque; designed by Mazria Inc. Photo via Metropolis].
Geoff: Finally, you mentioned mayors earlier. How has your

experience been with other political leaders, at different levels of
government?
Ed
: Its actually gone quite well the mayors are highly interested and motivated. I was in
Washington yesterday, actually, talking to Senators and to members of Congress about getting
federal support. That would mean having federal buildings lead the way because the federal
government does quite a lot of building probably about 3% of total construction and were
asking for all federally-funded buildings to meet the Challenge targets. Were also asking for
incentives to help meet these targets, until everyone gets up to speed. In some cases there are
costs involved, so if you provide incentives you can help accelerate the adoption of the
Challenge so the quicker we get incentives into place, the better. But theres now a lot of
interest on Capitol Hill for what were talking about.
Geoff: Is that because of the elections this past November?
Ed<
: It is. We just dont have that much time left. We really have to work absolutely as hard as we
can right now to get things done. We need everyone I mean everyone really pulling in the
same direction, and not getting discouraged. You can make things happen. Everyone has a role
in making things happen. I cant emphasize this enough: we need everyone. Its the people
who respond to the situation that will make it happen and thats who were looking to reach.
This is doable. Its a doable job, and I think all the pieces are known; we understand them we
know what needs to be done. We only have to do it now. We now know exactly where we need
to be; we know what the reductions are; we know how to get them; we know where to go for
the incentives we just have to make it happen. The time for small, incremental changes has
passed. This is not a top-down action; thats too slow. This change has to come from across the
universities, the industries, and the entire political spectrum.
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07/30/2008under Architecture, Green Building, Green Design Competitions 1 Comments

+ Autodesk 2008 Student Design Challenge

China breaks ground

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INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Ed Mazria from

Geoff: Whats the other 8%?

Geoff: Speaking of which, youve pointed out elsewhere that SUVs

Geoff: As far as implementing the Challenge goes, it that as simple

Geoff: In the meantime, youve seen corporations like Wal-Mart try to

Geoff: So what roles do the architecture and design schools play in

Geoff: The 2010 Imperativeis a global emergency teach-in

Geoff: Have universities and institutions outside of New York signed

Geoff: Some of these changes are going to require a pretty major

[Image: U.S. Electrical Energy Consumption, via Architecture 2030].

Geoff: Beyond the teach-in, how do you anticipate getting this

Geoff: In that same time period, do you plan to approach large-scale

Geoff: What about designing a kind of prototype development, or

Geoff: Youve also talked about the importance of new design

Geoff: Could you issue a kind of Software Challenge to help kick

Geoff: Finally, you mentioned mayors earlier. How has your

Geoff: Is that because of the elections this past November?

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