Hi All! I am going to use today's post as a learning session. In my previous post i mentioned taking part in the ICE Apprentice competition. It required writing essay on the subject of ethical challenges. I wrote the following. I am willing to learn so please read and share your opinion about the subject.
Ethical challenges: the conflict between design brief and sustainable principles
Rapid transition from rural to urban habitat demands
modern cities that can fulfill the most complex manifestation of human
activities - in commerce, finance, service industries and cultural enterprises.
Factors as such define client’s requirements including expectations of high living
standards, financial growth, space utilisation and aesthetics.
Whether to include sustainable principles or not and the
extent of its application tends to vary between sectors,
depending on the investors’ priorities. E.g. private owners dictate their
requirements depending on their budgets and planning constraints whereas,
public sector shows wider interest in both capital investment and whole-life
costs. In contrast a developer’s attitude is driven by the expectations of
their target market demanding flexibility for alterations by its occupants
leading to uncertainty in effectiveness of sustainable design. Therefore, the need to incorporate and appreciate sustainable principles
within the design brief can never be overemphasised.
Sustainability principles such as Eco-design, green
buildings and triple bottom line, which were merely catchy phrases, have now been
developed into integrated strategic framework in order to lessen the strain on the
world’s natural resources. These needs have also been identified at national
and corporate levels in form of “Securing the
future – the UK Sustainable Development Strategy” and “Corporate Citizenship” respectively,
ensuring the establishment of benchmarks for values and policies. However, can
it be assumed that the current guidelines and regulations are sufficient or do
we need a more thorough approach to ensure that an ethically responsible
decision is made during the design process? Is there a scope for shifting
design focus to embrace ethical standard of care?
A design brief often conflicts with the sustainable principles
when the criteria are to be justified solely against economic factors. Also, codes,
regulations and guidance in their current form simply provide minimal criteria.
Therefore an ethical responsibility from a designer’s perspective becomes core
for engineering design solutions to achieve a balance between the two. A
holistic approach should be adopted to ensure economic prosperity,
environmental stewardship and social responsibility. When responding to the
call for sustainable development, designers should opt out costly technological
features with creative smart solutions. E.g. inclusion of sensible choice of
construction methodologies, responsible sourcing of the materials, utilising
material properties (exposed concrete soffits), mass design, renewable energy resources
(daylight, natural ventilation), passive design methods, etc. have the tendency
to eliminate negative environmental impacts simply through skilful sensitive
design. Where the investors are keen to explore innovative
long-terms solutions, decisions should be made through considerate evaluation
and optimisation of systems in order to minimise possible financial risks
emerging due to departure from traditional mode of practice.
It can be assumed that advancement in technology along with a
greater availability of durable environmental materials will lower the capital
cost of sustainable elements encouraging Eco-efficient designs in the future. Design
for Sustainability strategies (DfS) and codes should be interlinked with more stringent
regulations introducing penalties and promoting forms of incentives such as
lower taxes to enforce sustainable action in design. Otherwise, in the
foreseeable future, these principles will remain largely in conflict with
design due to economic constraints.
