Environmental Ethics and Sustainability in Housing Design

Abstract

House was probably the first freestanding building of the prehistoric humans. This field of architectural design and construction remains of crucial importance from the social, cultural, economic, and environmental points of view until today. Take, for example, the influence of housing construction sector on the environment due to the development of industrial construction technologies, and the increasing world’s population, or the emotional, psychological impact of the closest everyday built environment on the human development. Considering this, we have decided to analyze the links between types, forms, and features of housing and ethical approaches towards the environment. This research has a historical dimension: we have analyzed the importance of different land management (landscape architecture) criteria in housing development in different historical periods and tried to identify the genesis of and conditions for the environmental concern in this field. The analysis of challenges of the present situation in the housing sector development has allowed us to identify main conditions of uncertainty, constant change, and diversity of possible architectural, technological, and ethical approaches that shape this field today. We propose that housing solutions may vary from low-tech buildings made with vernacular technologies and local building materials to ecological high-tech buildings still maintaining the environmentally friendly approach; however, taking into account the constant housing shortages and the increasing world’s population, the sector of affordable sustainable housing should be given a priority. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.62.4.2358