Conference Agenda

The building and construction sector in Europe is the largest source of energy, CO2 and material consumption as well as waste production. It mostly relies on a linear building construction process. Not only materials and building elements must be demolished and disposed at the end of the life cycle of a building, but also a considerable amount of valuable raw materials therefore is lost. Due to a worldwide increasing need for construction activities, the construction industry is more and more under pressure. Counteracting it needs a completely new approach - the model of the circular economy - and the design of circular buildings. But, which requirements a circular building has to fulfill? The paper is incorporating the circular economy approach into architecture and presents a first tool to support the design of circular buildings in early planning stages.

Since 2015, the New York-based design studio No Architecture (NOA) has researched the history of vernacular and pre-industrial built environments in order to better understand indigenous solutions for climate-resilient development. Spatial and ecological performance analysis of our findings initially led to a catalog of vernacular outdoor microclimate morphologies, which we then translated into a higher-density proposal for an Ecodistrict located in Portland, Oregon’s Mediterranean climate. The interdisciplinary includes examinations of several dimensions of the early stages of a design process, including: underlying theoretical and historical frameworks; simulations of solar isolation and wind flow; and the elaboration of a set of flexible principals which can be adapted throughout climates with dry summer conditions. This proposal for a new “Rough Void” typology anticipates an alternate, climate-resilient trajectory for urban development.

The paper aims to critically analyze the housing policy Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMAY), a social welfare flagship program, created by the Indian Government, to provide housing for the rural poor in India. The case study of Baiga tribe (aboriginals) is taken to understand its vernacular architecture and the impact of housing scheme on the Baiga’s traditional settlement. A brief study of settlement pattern is done. The dwellings provided by housing scheme are analysed on various aspects like architectural, social, cultural and economic, to identity the gap, why Government policy, schemes, development programme, and implementation fails to address the basic needs of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Methodology includes literature review from various sources, site visit, photography, survey and interviews. Vernacular dwellings and the new dwellings provided by the scheme are documented and analysed. Result and findings addresses that the recommendations made in ‘the revised scheme of PVTGs’ 2015 by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India under ‘Housing and Habitat’ is not taken in consideration by the implementing agencies. The paper concludes that Government must ensure the correct implementation of scheme at ground level. The scope of the paper is limited to Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh.

In complex processes of building design, any feature not directly related to the construction purpose may be deemed superfluous and including new steps relies therefore on usefulness and ease-of-adoption. In this paper, we aim to prove that LCA data undergoes the aforementioned consideration and that decreasing the entry barrier in the application maximizes penetration. This research and its companion tool leverage the moment when architectural decisions are most influential, empowering architects to impact the building’s sustainability throughout its full life cycle by visualizing carbon footprint projections in a very customizable and nimble way.