Designing with Sustainability in Mind

1
Designing with Sustainability
in Mind

• Dr. Fernando Abruña, Architect
• Abruña Musgrave Associates
• [phone] AbruMus_at_Earthlink.Net

2
Introduction

• What will be discussed
• Our experience in Sustainable Design
  Construction
• Recommendations based on our experience
• Who we are
• Abruña Musgrave Associates-Architects
• Sustainable Architecture
• Energy Conservation
• Recycling of Buildings (as Historic Preservation)

3
Projects to be discussed

• Twin Ceiba Trees in Quebradillas
• Puntas del Mar in Rincón
• Niños Uniendo al Mundo, Montessori School
• Culebra Public Elementary School
• The Absent House (The Ecological House of PR)
• The Solar Decathlon House, U.P.R.
• Sustainable Design Guidelines for Municipality of
  Carolina

4
Twin Ceiba Trees, Quebradillas

• Project Summary
• An inventory of Ceiba Trees in Puerto Rico
  published by Fondo de Mejoramiento Inc. and the
  empowerment of neighbors and their involvement
  made possible the conservation of two majestic
  Ceiba trees in Barrio los Cocos in Quebradillas
  while allowing the expansion of an expressway by
  the Department of Transportation .

5
Twin Ceiba Trees, Quebradillas
6
Puntas del Mar, Rincón

• Project Summary
• A proposal for a sustainable agrourban community
  with business and work centers, cultural,
  tourist/recreational and commercial activities
  integrated to living quarters.
• Hidden Road system would make feasible common
  shared public spaces.
• Food crops, recycling and energy production would
  take place within the community.

7
Puntas del Mar, Rincón
8
Niños Uniendo al Mundo Montessori School, Caguas

• Project Summary
• A Montessori School was transferred from a
  Shopping Mall to a natural environment with the
  architects participation from land acquisition
  to actual construction and operation of the
  facility.
• With a very limited budget, sustainability
  principles were incorporated with an active
  participation of teachers and students resulting
  in the 1st private Ecological School in Puerto
  Rico.

9
Niños Uniendo al Mundo Montessori School, Caguas
10
Niños Uniendo al Mundo Montessori School, Caguas
11
Culebra Public Elementary School

• Project Summary
• With public policy will from the Executive
  Director of the Public Buildings Authority,
  Architect Lillian Rivera provided the appropriate
  climate to negotiate with the Department of
  Education the design of the 1st Public School
  that incorporates sustainability as an integral
  part of a new way to conceive schools.
• Negotiations still in progress to allow net
  metering in our effort to sell electric energy
  back to PREPA.

12
Culebra Public Elementary School
13
The Absent House

• A suburban sustainable, agrourban, house was
  designed and constructed as a residence for the
  architect to demonstrate that sustainability is
  not nor should it be limited to remote bucolic
  sites in the country.
• The house tries to convey the idea that
  sustainable architecture transcends the
  technological artifacts that are part of it.

14
The Absent House
15
The Absent House
16
The Absent House
17
Solar Decathlon House, UPR

• A demonstration project designed, built,
  transported to and assembled in the National Mall
  in Washington, D.C.
• Done through a joint multi campus multi
  disciplinary effort by the Schools of
  Architecture in Rio Piedras and Engineering in
  Mayagüez (UPR) with an active role of the
  construction industry community.

18
Solar Decathlon House, UPR
19
Solar Decathlon House, UPR
20
Sustainable Design Guidelines for Municipality of
Carolina

• Done to incorporate sustainability as a tool for
  development of the rural areas of the
  municipality.
• Three main components
• A Certification Process for developers and
  contractors
• A Residents Manual
• Self Assessment Design Guidelines

21
Sustainable Design Guidelines for Municipality of
Carolina
22
Other Projects

• Ecotourism Design Guidelines for PR Tourism
  Company
• Ecological High School in Dorado for Public
  Buildings Authority and Department of Education
• Solaria An ecosolar affordable house

23
Recommendations based on our experience

• Teamwork between owner, designer/contractor/develo
  per, surrounding community and local government
  is absolutely essential.
• Carrying capacity of a place is still a very
  ambiguous measuring tool
• Rational and not fanatical environmentalism is
  required for real sustainability
• Energy conservation and efficiency have a major
  impact in achieving sustainability
• Architects have taken, locally, the lead in
  sustainable design practices
• Contractors are in an embrionary stage in
  applying sustainable practices
• Utility Companies need to be proactive with
  respect to new ways of selling, purchasing,
  generating and distributing energy and water.
• Technology is not enough, good architectural
  design and compact urban strategies or agrourban
  communities are essential ingredients for
  sustainability
• Solar systems need to be incorporated in long
  term amortization process to make them
  economically feasible

24
Additional Information

• Abruña Musgrave-Architects
• Tel [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E Mail AbruMus_at_Earthlink.Net
• Snail Mail PO Box 9022030, San Juan, 00902
• Office 107 San Sebastian St, Old San Juan