Green lab: A strategic design framework to develop sustainable research laboratories

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a system of design strategies, useful to technical institutes and universities, that endeavor to create more environmentally and socially sustainable laboratory spaces. The Green Lab model is designed to promote sustainable education throughout the complete life cycle of smart buildings. This requires a critical departure from traditional practices, starting at the formative stage, as defined by Edward Mazria’s 2010 Imperative and 2030 Challenge (http://architecture2030.org/): first the change required in education, making ecological literacy a central tenet; then the change enabled in design, required to reduce CO2 emissions by building activity by 50 %. Green Lab assumes an alternative approach to design education, to deliver different results—rendering the education process itself innovative, interactive and sustainable, and demanding smart buildings with the same characteristics. The Green Lab methodology has been developed through teaching and research experience, providing a forum to apply and test design principles and innovative construction technologies as well as an occasion to propose a shift in cultural paradigm, so that university and research institutions themselves become prototypes in the field of sustainable building and energy technologies. The building project must constitute an innovation epicenter for the study of sustainable technologies, representing in itself a testing ground for advanced “solutions in progress” which are continually integrated, evaluated and replaced. The result of this sustainable education model is the design of an architectural organism conceived according to bioclimatic strategies for minimal environmental impact, using recycled materials and meeting the highest standards of energy efficiency—a Green Lab capable of sustaining itself, generating energy from renewable sources via its form, surfaces and volumes. The knowledge base of the design laboratory is in constant expansion, requiring active research contributions (via dedicated website DiarAmbiente) from all participants: students, professors, architects, engineers, and national researchers collaborate directly to maintain a highly dynamic multilateral learning environment, keeping the moving target of sustainable design in focus. Its outcomes are high-level design projects, demonstrating increased consciousness and commitment to sustainable building.