Sustainability, Energy and Architecture

Chapter 14

Sustainable Buildings and their Relationship with Humans and Nature

Lessons from the Past

Rahman Azari^∗ and Maryam Singery^†,    ^∗College of Built Environments, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA,    ^†Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Iran

Abstract

Over recent decades, the role of the built environment in creating many of the environmental problems that nature and humanity currently face has been highlighted and scrutinized. As a response, the concept of sustainable architecture has emerged, affecting the discourse and practice of architecture with an emphasis on lowering the environmental impacts of the built environment over its lifecycle. Less emphasis, however, is placed on ...