The application of ecosystems services criteria for green building assessment

Abstract

In the discussion of environmental architecture, we are conjoining two disciplines, the subject of architecture and that of ecology. At their best, green buildings are examples of applied ecology, where designers understand the constitution, organization, and structure of ecosystems, and the impacts of architecture are considered from an environmental perspective. By utilizing the concepts, methods, and language of ecology, designers can create architecture that intentionally engages the natural systems of a site. The establishment of assessment criteria implies the definition of building design criteria. If we establish criteria that are based on our best scientific understanding of environmental capacity, we will begin to develop a building stock that is sustainable. To do this we must quantify the link between the resulting environmental impacts and their cause in building production and use. This is not done in traditional building environmental impact assessment methods, which are based on quantifying assumed negative impacts of man-made interventions on the natural environment, typically using a code compliant reference building as a standard to improve upon. These indexes lack an ecologically derived baseline, or standard of measure, under which sustainable developments can be analyzed and compared on a universal basis. An ecologically derived baseline can be used to measure negative impacts as well as positive impacts of buildings. It also allows vastly different project types, sizes and locations to be compared on an equal basis. This study extends the concept of ecological capacity into an architectural context, and develops carrying capacity as a time and area dependent tool to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental building design. The ecosystem services criteria study uses an objective metric of carrying capacity as an ecologically derived baseline (hectare/years) to assess building sustainability. The farmhouse, a low energy, biological material based building located in Boulder, Colorado is evaluated to show the application of this method. The relative ecological impact of energy and materials for this project is described, as well as identification of effective strategies for reducing environmental impacts of typical buildings.