Principles of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) : an index to evaluate ESD and its applicability in Sri Lankan context

Abstract

'Sustainability' has become a very famous global topic in the last few decades. As a concept dealing with economics and management, 'Sustainability' applies in conservation of the environment and its scarce natural resources As a Profession which always deals with space, material and energies, Architecture has much more to contribute in 'Environmental Sustainability'. Therefore it is vital to carryout studies on 'Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD). Various Principles and Strategies on ESD have been developed by scholars, as they were adopted by Professional Bodies and Institutions in policy formulation all over the world. Most of them happened in the Developed Countries with advanced technology, having investments to conduct research. Such implications therefore are not frequently happening in the Developing Countries. This Dissertation which is a Research Study was prepared with such a background investigates the Applicability of such Principles of ESD in Evaluation of ESD in Sri Lankan Context. This constitutes a study of various ESD Principles, development of an 'Evaluating Index' organized as an 'ESD Scorecard' and a Research study on the 'Applicability' of such internationally developed Principles of ESD under Sri Lankan Conditions. Two Residences which are assumed as Environmentally Sustainable have been evaluated using the developed 'ESD Scorecard' as Case Studies. The results of the analysis of the research have proved that the Internationally developed ESD Principles would have to be modified accordingly with the 'Regional Conditions' as well as with the 'Nature' and the 'Scale' of the project.