Sustainability as a concept has been recently a rising interest in the field of architecture and planning. Research unfolds various definitions of sustainable development, some general and some more precise. Sustainability deals with meeting the basic needs of all people and extending opportunities for economic and social advancement. It also deals with the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. Another concept of sustainability is that which deals with the natural renewable resources that does not eliminate or diminish their renewable usefulness for future generations.
Although "sustainable architecture" communicates slightly different meanings to various audiences, nevertheless it serves as a rallying point for creating greater concern about the built environment and its long term viability. Sustainability is a critical concept and direction for the design professions. Yet, the term "sustainable architecture," is used to describe the movement associated with environmentally conscious architectural design. The aim of this paper is to review definitions of sustainability in the architecture field. Sustainability as a paradigm change is addressed as a change in several directions: value change, institutional change and technological change.
The paper is divided into three parts. First, the introduction offers a general review of concepts and principles of sustainable development. The idea of sustainability as a paradigm change in the architectural design field is addressed in the second part. Finally, architecture sustainability as practices, strategies and implementation processes will be discussed.
The key to sustainable architecture is recognizing our position as temporary guardians of our environment. The better we as architects understand and implement our stewardship of the built environment, the greater the quality life we, and future generations, will have. It is possible that sustainability may be the best hope for the long-term continuation of humanity.
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