Redefining Sustainability in Traditional Architecture

What makes a building truly "sustainable?" And how do architects, builders, and clients measure sustainability in their projects?

In November 2023, the ICAA hosted the national conference Enduring Places. For three days, 225 participants from around the country gathered in Charleston, South Carolina and engaged in a diverse offering of talks, panel discussions, working sessions, and tours focused on three themes: craftsmanship, preservation, and sustainability.

The conference's first breakout session focused on sustainability. While there is widespread agreement on the validity and importance of sustainable practices in architecture, the metrics by which projects are assessed are dominated by assumptions of high-tech problems and high-tech solutions. The prevailing metrics inaccurately capture the benefits to be gained by use of a traditional design toolkit such as durability, adaptability, low toxicity, low energy demand, and other approaches.

In this panel discussion, Patricia Andrasik, associate professor at The Catholic University of America; David Calligeros, founder of Remains Lighting; Steve Mouzon, architect, urbanist, author, and co-founder of the Urban Guild; and John Onyango, associate professor of architecture at The University of Notre Dame identified some appropriate metrics for sustainable architecture and discussed approaches to capturing the relevant data.

About the Series:

From April to June 2024, the ICAA will be releasing all of the recordings from Enduring Places. Sign up for the ICAA's biweekly newsletter, World of Classicism, to be notified when other installments are released in the coming weeks: https://bit.ly/ICAAemails

About the Speakers:

Patricia Andrasik is an associate professor at The Catholic University of America (CUA) and a licensed architect in Washington, D.C. She was a Fulbright Student Scholar at the Technical University of Slovakia researching the building effectiveness of mass housing while earning her Master of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma. She then taught as a Visiting Professor in Beirut prior to returning to the U.S. to practice. Andrasik is the Director of CUA’s Master of New Zero Design program where she regularly develops new courses and introduces world renowned experts in this track.

David Calligeros received his BA in Architectural History from Columbia University in 1993. Shortly thereafter, in 1996, he opened Remains. Under his leadership the company has evolved from an off-the-beaten-path resource for antique lighting to a world-class restoration and manufacturing concern. Remains is the New York City-based source for thousands of custom lighting fixtures, with showrooms across the United States and one LEED Gold, solar- powered, daylit factory in Brooklyn, NY. A strong believer in environmental and civic sustainability, David is a frequent speaker on environmental issues, especially in their intersection with manufacturing. David is a member of the board of RethinkNYC, an organization spearheading the rebuilding of NYC’s Penn Station as the center of a truly regional transit network, a Fellow of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, and past president of ICAA’s NY Chapter, as well as a board member of The Design Leadership Network.

Steve Mouzon is an architect, urbanist, author, blogger, and photographer based in Tuscaloosa. He co-founded the Urban Guild, which was instrumental in the creation of the Katrina Cottages initiative. The Guild is the nexus of Project:SmartDwelling, which works to redefine the house to be much smaller and more sustainable. Steve speaks regularly across the US and abroad on sustainability issues. He blogs on Original Green Stories, Useful Stuff, and We Do This Because... He also posts to the Original Green X (formerly Twitter) stream.

John Onyango is an associate professor of architecture at The University of Notre Dame who studies humane spaces and architectural designs that foster positive development outcomes and promote community engagement. Onyango’s work focuses on sustainability and takes a holistic, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary approach to the creative practices at the building and urban design levels. His areas of expertise include architectural and building technology, the built environment and health, community building, and environmental psychology. His current research interests include understanding energy use in traditional buildings using simulation and biomimetic epidemiology, and the built environment and aging and wellbeing.Onyango has worked professionally as an architect in the United Kingdom, the United States and Kenya. He has a master of architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Glasgow.