Novel Concept and Technologies of Sustainable Building Design

Dear Colleagues,

What are the current digital and/or physical innovations driving sustainable architecture? What could be suggestions for a more holistic approach?”

The single efforts of esteemed experts could be digitally linked together for a synergetic approach. It is believed that this combined effort could be more productive than the sum of their individual issues.

Sustainable design parameters may be visualized as the genetic code of a building’s specific performance requirements—similar to the DNA of all living entities. This “Building DNA” could provide comprehensive “Performance" parameters, which further could be programmed to be SMART—sensible, meaningful, adaptive, realistic and time–cost effective.

Back in 2001, a highly networked, expertise-orientated, integrated design strategy of “Form Follows Performance” was coined in our offices and research centers in Germany, India and Sri Lanka, primarily for complex industrial projects and passive housing. In planning processes, “Virtual Twins” used state-of-the-art 3D-BIM modeling for architecture, structure and utilities integrated with dynamic climatic simulations and CFD analysis, sustainable parameters and cradle-to-grave lifecycle systems.

It is needless to mention that programming has become an all-important task, as specific parameters of geography, climate, topography, culture, process, technology and logistics are key forces driving innovative and integrated architecture from a very early stage. While we are shaping out “Passive” sustainable design solutions for site, volume, structure, envelope, and interiors, we are minimizing the need for “Active” utilities, if and where necessary.

In a nutshell, we strongly believe that our ecological responsibility lies in designing sailboats and not motorboats in architecture. A German government BMBF- and DAAD-funded program will culminate in a web-portal and app climatehub.online. Holistic design strategies and academic research will open a wider audience, a collaborative and deeper understanding of the topics on hand and a one-of-a-kind e-learning platform–program.

You may choose the Related Special Issue "Sustainable Design under Climate Responsive Environments" in Applied Sciences.

Prof. Jürgen Reichardt
Guest Editor

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