Steps to Ecological Design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoRjz8iTVoo

A. WHAT IS THE INTENTION OF THE DESIGN?

What are the reasons for this particular design?
Determine the amount of environmental integration that can be achieved in the design.
Evaluate the ecological and settlement history of the site
Inventory the designed system’s ecosystem and built infrastructure
Delineate the designed system’s boundary as a human-made or composite ecosystem
Design to balance the biotic and abiotic components of the designed system
Design to improve and to create new ecological linkages
Design to reduce the footprint of the built environment on the ecology of the locality

B. THE DESIGN PROCESS

Design to reduce the consequences of the various modes of transportation and the provision of access and vehicular parking for the designed system
Design to integrate with the wider planning context and infrastructure of the local bioregion
Design for improved internal comfort conditions in the built environment
Design to optimize all passive-mode (or bioclimatic design) options in the designed system
Design to optimize all mixed-mode options in the designed systems with partial use of renewable resources of energy and as low-energy design in relation to climate of the locality
Design to optimize all full-mode options in the designed system in relation to the climate of the locality
Design to internally integrate biomass with the designed system’s inorganic mass (ex. by means of internal landscaping, improved indoor air quality, etc.)
Design for water conservation, recycling, harvesting, etc.
Design for wastewater and sewage treatment and recycling systems
Design for food production and independence
Design the built system’s use of materials to minimize waste based on the analogy with the recycling properties of the ecosystem
Design for vertical and horizontal integration
Design to reduce light and noise pollution of the ecosystem

C. THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Designing the built environment as the transient management of materials and energy input flows
Designing to conserve the use of non-renewable energy and material resources
Design for the management of outputs from the built environment and their integration with the natural environment
Design the building over its lifecycle from the source to reintegration
Design using environmentally benign materials, furniture, fittings, equipment, and products that can be continually recycled, reused, and reintegrated
Design to reduce the use of ecosystem and biospheric services and impacts on the shared global environment (systemic integration)

D. FINAL ASSESSMENT