Teaching Sustainable Architecture: A Curriculum for the Future

Ar. Grace George, Assistant Professor, DC School of Architecture and Design, Vagamon.

Climate change is one of the major issues our world is facing nowadays. This has led to several issues including natural calamities and increased pollution levels that pose a serious threat to the life of human beings. While it is important to save the resources for the future, it is equally important to maintain a clean and safe environment for the future generations. A lot of organisations are raising concerns about these issues and are coming up with initiatives that prevent our environment from pollution. 

Construction sector is a significant contributor of pollution. A lot of efforts are made to minimise the negative effects from the  construction industry. Green building rating systems are one such initiative. These not only reduces the negative impacts but also promote healthy living conditions for the future generations. It is high time that the architecture curriculum is made  future forward by incorporating sustainable architecture through theory and practice. Enrolling in DCSAAD, the top B.Arch college in Kerala equips students to design climate-responsive buildings.

In this scenario, it is necessary to ensure that future architects prioritize sustainability. In order to put this into action, it is essential to incorporate the concept of sustainability into  our architecture curriculum. This step ensures that student architects realise the current scenario and understand the importance of sustainability and get in touch with the green practices that are coming up day by day. The best architecture college in Kerala ,DCSAAD, ensure this by encouraging students to design climate responsive buildings by incorporating passive designs strategies. Introducing students to the importance of concepts like energy efficiency, green building materials and techniques are crucial steps.

Architecture education must produce a generation that creates designs that are sensitive to both the planet and its inhabitants. Reusing building materials, minimizing waste production,designing net zero building etc are some of the areas where the student architects can explore.

It is thus important to incorporate sustainable architecture into the architecture education or curriculum to make it more future oriented and to create responsible architects for the future.