Interview Summary

The interviewee was Architect Sanura Hassan who is a sustainability consultant at Hassarch Studios, a leading architectural firm. Architect Hassan is well known for his role in promoting sustainability in the built environment. He has won many awards with regards to this because we live in a world where sustainability is gaining recognition in various sectors and especially the built environment. The main objective of the interview was to identify how contemporary buildings can incorporate sustainable strategies in their design and construction.

Architect Hassan defined sustainability as using available resources to meet the current needs without compromising the availability of those resources for future generations. Sustainability, therefore, involves environmental protection, economic growth, and social progress. Architect Hassan explained that for buildings to achieve sustainability, they must adhere to certain requirements. They must use design strategies that limit the negative environmental impact.

These strategies include passive design strategies such as natural daylighting, thermal massing, natural ventilation, etc. The other strategy is to use renewable energy systems in the building to reduce energy consumption. Renewable energy systems include solar harnessing and wind harnessing. These are usually applied together with passive design strategies.

The other sustainable strategy given by Architect Hassan during the interview was the use of locally available building materials as well as recycled. This cuts on transportation required to deliver materials to the site which saves energy and reduces emissions by the transportation lorries. Other strategies that the architect talked about were stormwater management, waste management, and native landscaping.

In conclusion, Architect Hassan pointed out that all upcoming buildings should strive to achieve sustainability. He insisted that it was upon the Authorities to come up with strict regulations to be followed throughout the construction process to protect the environment from any pollution or improper use of resources.

REFERENCES

Ragheb, Amany, Hisham El-Shimy, and Ghada Ragheb. “Green architecture: A concept of sustainability.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 216 (2016): 778-787.

Toledo, Linda, Paul Cropper, and ANDREW J. Wright. “Unintended consequences of sustainable architecture: Evaluating overheating risks in new dwellings.” PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture) Conference 2016, 2016.