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Modern Architectures of North America

Brittney - Sustainable Urban Designs

During the 19th century North America experienced a huge shift towards urbanization and industrialization. The development of major cities, technological advances and population growth have shaped all aspects of our life today. Architecturally, structures got bigger to accommodate more people (skyscrapers, apartment buildings, mass office spaces) and closer together (downtown city dynamics). As these large cities began to appear more and more in North America the environmental impacts of design choices became apparent. A phenomenon called Urban Heat Island (UHI) occurs in metropolitan areas due to design choices over the past couple centuries.

Toronto, Ontario (2015)

Heat, of which is mostly from solar radiation and anthropogenic sources, is generated and stored in urban structures and results in these cities to experience higher temperatures than their surrounding rural areas, the most notable effect of UHI. UHI is a danger to the millions of people in North America living in urban areas because it increases energy consumption and elevates ground-level ozone. Existing problems in our city systems have been addressed as main causes of UHI, and alterations to urban design habits can be made to reduce this effect.

Ballard Public Library, Seattle, WA (2012)

The widespread use of renewable resources, recycled material and sustainable designs in metropolitan areas in North America would seriously reduce energy consumption and impacts of UHI on our environment.

Citations:

Dennis Bratland, Seattle Public Library, Ballard Branch1, Seattle, Washington, April 27 2012, (Wikimedia Commons).
Calkins, M. (2008). Materials for sustainable sites: a complete guide to the evaluation, selection, and use of sustainable construction materials. John Wiley & Sons.
Del Barrio, E. P. (1998). Analysis of the green roofs cooling potential in buildings. Energy and buildings, 27(2), 179-193.
Jim Munson, Toronto’s Financial Centre, Toronto, Ontario, April 25 2015, (flickr).
Rizwan, A. M., Dennis, L. Y., & Chunho, L. I. U. (2008). A review on the generation, determination and mitigation of Urban Heat Island. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 20(1), 120-128.

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