Communicating Sustainable Architecture
Mediating Meanings Research Theme Project
Banner Image: A living roof of the California Academy of Sciences. The rooftop, planted with native plants, slows stormwater runoff, serves as a research site for the Academy, provides a habitat for insect and bird migrations, and symbolically highlights the importance of sustainability. Credit: Photograph by Georgia Lindsay.
Overview
Green building certification systems encourage designing with the climate in mind. However, we have much to learn about the social performance of green buildings and how to engage occupants in the sustainability narrative of buildings. This project seeks to remedy that gap through understanding the mediated meanings of sustainable building features.
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Impact and Engagement
Buildings have the power to communicate messages, and green buildings can advocate for sustainability. The general public seems to approve of green design, but they often miss specific features that contribute to the sustainability of the building. A green-building literate public could advocate for better building practices in addition to supporting existing green building performance. This project studies how design communicates about sustainability, looking at both architectural features that makes buildings climate-sensitive and the values that the public “reads” in public architecture. We ask, how do green buildings communicate their sustainable features?
To answer this question, researchers at the University of Tasmania and the University of Missouri are studying green buildings, both in person and how they are conveyed in the press. The work began with looking at LEED-certified science museums in the American context, and is currently expanding to include Green Star cultural and university buildings in the Australian context. We use site visits, image analysis, interviews, and press coverage analysis.
Grants
- Michael Brill Award, Environmental Design Research Association
Publications
- Cole, Laura, Georgia Lindsay, and Caroline Lesch (2018). “Communicating Sustainability in the Green Science Museum.” Implications 12(1).
Partners
People
Dr Laura Cole
Assistant Professor, Interior Design Program Coordinator, University of Missouri
