Architectural education for sustainable design - A proposal for improving indoor environment quality

Buildings should be comfortable and healthy. They are a shelter for their occupants and should not be a source of problems. The architect widely influences the indoor environment quality by his design,. Ensuring a good indoor environment through appropriate architectural measures is one of the stakes of sustainable architecture. For that purpose and for several reasons, constructive measures are preferred to technical ones. It is proposed, either through lectures, conferences or, better, by integrating this issue into workshop activity, to make students in architecture aware of the issue, to show them the sources and effects of various contaminants, including the conditions favourable to the growth of unhealthy micro-organisms. Emphasis should be given on the influence that design options have on indoor environment quality, addressing their positive or negative effects on thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, noise protection and acoustic comfort. This paper presents the stakes and aims of such education, together with four years experience in this issue at the EPFL.