Sustainable Design in Architecture
The purpose of the further grant of £200,000 to the Lighthouse for the Sustainable Design in Architecture (SUST) project in 2007-08 ( see previous work) was to continue to raise awareness of the need for a more considered design approach to our built environment based on the principles of sustainable development, ensuring that previous momentum was not lost. The elements were: Tools and Techniques: The Green Directory; Interactive Educational Tool; Guidance for Professionals; Professional Training: Sustainable Neighbourhoods (understanding of what makes places work; and various issues of human interaction with the environment); Events; Business to Business: Green Business Strategies; Community Grant Aid.
SUST continued to assist organisations or individuals responsible for commissioning a building, community groups, building designers and citizens to identify and tackle barriers to delivering sustainable construction, facilitating a move from better "thinking" to better "delivery" of sustainable development and helping all those responsible to make the necessary adjustments to their work practices and knowledge to accommodate change - in effect making sustainable development the norm rather than the exception.
In 2007-08 the My Sust House semi-permanent exhibition was prepared, originally as part of Six Cities Inverness, afterwards located in the Lighthouse. There was a contribution to other exhibitions, such as the Greenhouse Exhibition with Collective Architecture, May to September 2007, and the SHIFTS Exhibition with Access to Architecture, exploring sustainable alternatives for the M8 corridor.
SUST funded various studies, including a post-occupancy study of the Maggie Centre in Dundee as a test case for a series of small healthcare buildings and lessons that could be transferred between these - with the University of Dundee as project partner - and a project to explore the use of alginates from seaweed as a binding material in construction using other indigenous materials such as unfired clay bricks and sheep's wool - undertaken with the University of Strathclyde's Architecture Department and Energy Systems Research Unit.
There were presentations to a wide range of bodies, including to the Chartered Institution of Housing Conference in March 2008. Collaboration with the Scottish Ecological Design Association continued on developing and augmenting the SUST Green Directory of locally available sustainable/ ecological products and services.
SUST worked with key players in the energy, environment and sustainability field to run more joint seminars - there was collaboration with bodies such as the Building Research Establishment, Changeworks, the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, the Scottish Ecological Design Association, Homes for Scotland and the Carbon Trust.
Grant support was given for feasibility studies to try to bring small-scale community projects to fruition. There was work on My Sust Town, a planning game for 13 to 16-year-old pupils with an interest in geography, planning and sustainable design issues.
Marketing was undertaken through the SUST website and also by other means such as advertising in housing magazines.
In 2007-08 SUST were invited to participate in a number of significant research, consultancy and knowledge transfer projects. It was not possible to respond fully to these during the year, but future work was likely to take some of these activities forward.
The SUST project continued after 2007-08 with Scottish Government support through the Architecture and Place Division. See www.sust.org
Contact
The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow. G1 3LX
Telephone: 0141 221 6362
E-mail: enquiries@thelighthouse.co.uk
Website: www.thelighthouse.co.uk