SUSTAINABLE

ARCHITECTURE
Global Environment and Built
Environment
Presentation by Nihal Singh Verma
INTRODUCTION

Environment the totality of surrounding

conditions
Ecology interaction between a species and
its environment
Ecosystem a system of interactions:
between all living (organic) things and the
physical environment
and between themselves
Biosphere the global ecosystem, including
all ecosystems existing on Earth
Immense network of symbiosis (living
together)
Self-regulating balances emerging, being
disturbed, and then restored again
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EARTH

Total number of species (est.) 2 mln. known, up to 100 mln.

unknown (est.)
They inhabit a closed system the Earth
They struggle for survival
They compete and cooperate
They modify the environment
The human species stands out in 2 ways:
It is the only species capable of endangering or even destroying the
ecosystems it depends on for survival
It is the only species which has penetrated every other ecosystem
and established its domination over them

Source: Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World. L.: Sinclair-

Stevenson Ltd., 1991
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ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN

The liveable natural environment is maintained by communities of

living organisms whose interactions are maintained naturally
Self-regulating world
human interventions
The biosphere copes with these interventions by resetting the
balances
Survival of the human species is not a required condition in the
restoration of upset balances
The environmental conditions required to maintain human life are
very unstable
The essential element: WATER
Its condition is vulnerable to temperature shifts between the two
extremes:
an Ice Age, and
Global Environment andofBuilt
full evaporation Environment
the oceans. 4
ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN
In the past, humans have created
small-scale ecological disasters
limited to a specific geographical
area
In the past half-century, we have
begun to create a global ecological
catastrophe
Increase in temperature upsets
the delicate ecological balances,
triggering off unforeseen changes

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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
Changes in global temperature

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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
Sea levels rising

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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
Depletion of the ozone layer

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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
Availability of land and water
The planet has 150 mln. square kms of dry land
Humans are controlling 28% of it
This leads to deforestation (5,000 years ago, forests covered 75% of
dry land, today only 26%), desertification, depletion of water and other
natural resources, chemical poisoning of soil, water and air
Every year, we dump 12-15 mln. tons of oil into the oceans
150 mln. sq. km out of 361 mln. of the world ocean is polluted

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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

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BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The manmade surroundings that provide the setting for human activity,
ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places.

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
PRODUCTS
INTERIORS
STRUCTURES
LANDSCAPES
CITIES
REGIONS
EARTH

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
PRODUCTS:
Materials and products, generally created to extend human capacity to
perform specific task: tools (pen and pencils, hammer and saw)

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
INTERIOR :
A space defined by an arranged grouping of products and within the
walls of a structure, generally created to enhance activities and mediate
external factors (living room, work rooms, public assembly halls and
stadiums)

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
STRUCTURES :
A planned grouping of spaces defined by and constructed of products,
generally combining related activities into composite structures (housing,
school, office building, mosque, factories, highways, bridges, tunnels,
etc.) Generally, structures have dual internal spaces and external form
characteristics.

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
LANDSCAPES:
Exterior spaces and or setting for planned grouping of structures and
spaces (courtyard, malls, parks, landscapes, sites for home and other
structures, farm, countryside, national forest).

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
CITIES:
Grouping of structures or landscape of varying sizes and complexities,
generally clustered together to define a community for economic,
social , cultural and environmental reasons (Subdivisions,
neighbourhood, villages or town and cities of varying sizes)

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COMPONENTS OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
REGION:
Grouping of cities and landscapes of various sizes and complexities,
generally defined by common political, social, economic and
environmental characteristic (the surrounding region of a city, a country
or multi country area, a state or multistage area, a country, continent)

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