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By Renee Cheng, head
 The School of Architecture's class of 2010 includes students just
accepted to the undergraduate major and the students entering our graduate program.
To those of us in education, these students are a very real reminder of our responsibilities
toward the 2010 Imperative. While well-intentioned, we don't find it feasible
(as proposed in the national 2010 Imperative) to require all studio curricula
to address sustainability. We are adapting the 2010 Imperative to more holistically
integrate sustainability across the curriculum. We believe that in this way,
we will more likely meet the extremely challenging goal of carbon-neutral buildings
by 2030 while also emphasizing the importance of core design thinking. We see
the opportunity for a more integrated approach that does more than simply add
the words sustainable design to an already full curriculum.
Sustainability and sustainable design are used with increasing frequency and, some might argue, decreasing specificity. To explain a bit about how we use these words in our research, teaching, and service at the School of Architecture, I thought it would be helpful to cite a few authoritative definitions.
William McDonough, FAIA, says his firm strives to create a "delightfully diverse, healthy, and just world, with clean air, water, soil, and power--economically, equitably, ecologically, and elegantly enjoyed."
Joseph Demkin, AIA, offers two definitions being considered for the glossary in The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice:
Sustainability--the concept of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable design--design that seeks to avoid depletion of energy, water, and raw material resources; prevent environmental degradation caused by facility and infrastructure development over their life cycle; and create environments that are livable, comfortable, and safe and that promote productivity.
Clearly, all individuals, groups, and institutions will need to define their own attitude toward sustainability and sustainable design. Here at the School of Architecture, multiple investigations feed into a robust discussion of both terms.
At the most basic level, sustainable principles can be found in vernacular architecture, whose inherent integrity is the result of deeply internalized engagement with issues of architecture, environment, and cultural production. These values mirror our core design teaching, which encourages students to ground their designs in well sited, contextually appropriate, and culturally sensitive projects. Factors like light, temperature, and material sensations have always been part of the poetics of design. The strength of design teaching and emphasis on critical thinking at the school have never been more important in addressing the fundamental ways to think about sustainability and sustainable design.
More technical issues related to building technology are certainly part of the picture, and the School of Architecture and College of Design are well positioned to lead in these areas. For example, using both physical and digital methods, graduate students test their designs by creating thermal and lighting models to understand qualitative and quantitative design decisions. Research by faculty linked with the college's Center for Sustainable Building Research is another way that we approach this issue.
The sustainability aspect that is most difficult to measure is the holistic, broad, and deep implication for how we interact with the built environment. To gauge its impact, the faculty have been alert to issues such as the power of adaptive reuse, biological models, and ethical considerations of working in communities. We continue to find ways to explore connections that are not immediately obvious but might lead to lessening our negative impact on the environment and increasing opportunities for delight.
Through our commitment to core design principles and our willingness to experiment with new models and ways of thinking, School of Architecture faculty are ready and willing to meet the challenges facing the class of 2010 and all the classes to come.
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