SU+RE: Sustainable + Resilient Design Systems

In the 21st century, architects and engineers are being challenged to produce work that is concurrently sustainable and resilient. Buildings need to mitigate their impact on climate change by minimising their carbon footprint, while also countering the challenging new weather conditions. Globally, severe storms, extreme droughts and rising sea levels are becoming an increasingly reoccurring feature. To respond, a design process is required that seeks to integrate resiliency by building in the capacity to absorb the impacts of these disruptive events and adapt over time to further changes, while simultaneously being part of the solution to the problem itself.

This issue of AD is guest-edited by the interdisciplinary team at Stevens Institute of Technology who developed the winning entry for the 2015 US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition, the SU+RE House. While particular focus is paid to this student designed and built prototype home, the publication also provides a broader discussion of the value of design-build as a model for tackling the issue of integrating sustainability and resilience, and what changes are required across education, policy, practice and industry for widespread implementation.

Contributors include: Bronwyn Barry, Michael Bruno, Alex Carpenter, Adam Cohen, Ann Holtzman, Ken Levenson, Brady Peters, Terri Peters, Karin Stieldorf, Alex Washburn, Claire Weisz, and Graham Wright.

Featured architects: 3XN/GXN, FXFOWLE Architects, Local Office Landscape Architecture (LOLA), Lateral Office, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Snohetta, Structures Design Build, and WXY Studio.