This course addresses sustainability as an over-arching design issue as well as a philosophical and ethical one: Through slide lectures, films, case studies, site visits, special projects, and discussions with experts, we will explore what sustainability means theoretically and practically for the design community, how it developed and what global & local issues drive it; how it impacts upon the very substance and appearance of what we create and build. Most particularly, we will discover how sustainable initiatives inspire innovative design concepts and the creation and use of new materials and technologies. We will connect all these issues to the guidelines for L.E.E.D.

The goal of the course is to enable designers to develop a solid rationale for making environmentally-sensitive decisions, and the basic, working knowledge of how to implement them. Students may tailor a research or creative project to their individual interests.

Labels: courses, curriculum, sustainable design