Integral design a necessity for sustainable building design

Abstract

Due to the rising demand for more sustainable buildings it is essential to make optimal use of the natural resources of sun, earth, water and wind. There is a urgent need saving energy and the necessity of zero or even energy positive buildings in the near future. However, therefor it is necessary to end the dichotomy between architecture and technology. This dichotomy leading to far from optimal functional buildings with poor indoor comfort and health conditions and also being responsible for high operational and failure costs. To close the gap between technology and architecture, between science and art, it is important to no longer subordinate to architecture but part of architecture itself. Instead of integrated design it is time for integral design. Architect and engineer working really together within the conceptual design phase of a building. It seems so easy however, it take an enormous mind shift for the engineers to become designers. The necessity for this was recognized by the Dutch Royal society of Architects, BNA, as well as the society of Dutch consulting engineers, NL Engineers. As a result the combined research project Integral Design was started together with the Dutch Building Services society, TVVL, in 2000. As a result of this project a design methodology was developed and implemented in the education curriculum of the Technical University of Eindhoven. In this paper the method and experiences of the application and testing of the method by organizing workshop between professionals and students will be presented