FOOTPRINTS- CARBON + DESIGN
- Simar Kaur Kochhar
- Mar 7
- 1 min read
In the context of the climate crisis, there has never been a more important moment to think clearly and critically about the footprint of architecture.
Carbon footprint is the most famous—and most urgent—impact of buildings, but it is interconnected with other footprints such as energy, water, labor, fairness, and biodiversity. Each footprint links individual design decisions to global consequences.
This project conducted research into carbon accounting, examining the history and relationships between various systems of environmental measurement, inventing new forms of visualizing the footprint of architecture, and developing strategies for designing low-carbon buildings and cities.
Numerous environmental measurement systems and software tools were utilized throughout the research. However, to enhance the clarity of the study, a new measurement or identification system was developed.
The research commenced by examining the environment in which all the design activities occur: Avery Hall. I utilized historical data from the Avery Architectural Library to identify the building's materials, as well as the suppliers and their production or procurement methods. For instance, the granite used throughout Columbia University's campus, including Avery Hall, is sourced from Stony Creek Quarry, which continues to provide materials for the University's renovations and new construction projects.
Using my own spring studio project at Columbia GSAPP and calculating the impact of low-carbon strategies that were investigated included material selection, lifecycle analysis, building codes, and government regulation, alternative business models, renovation and adaptive reuse, and design for disassembly.
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