What do you do if you want to incorporate creative thinking into sustainable structure design?

The fist place I would look up for inspiration and innovation is nature. If you carefully pay attention to the nature, you would find the solutions to most (if not all) of our problems.

In my experience this sounds more experimental and suitable for R&D projects where time/ budgets are not a constraint. In real life projects, especially in India, a Structural Engineer is always rushed and pushed to provide the most economical solution. However, it will be interesting to learn from any case studies available for building solutions provided in our cities based on bio mimicry, which also cater to applicable wind and earthquake loads

Sustainable architecture is an approach to architectural design that strives to minimize environmental impact. This innovative practice embodies the creation of energy-efficient and eco-friendly buildings that preserve and enrich the environment.

To make sustainable building designs more creative, you need to think outside the box. Here's how: Research sustainable design basics, materials, and new technologies. Team up with architects, engineers, and sustainability experts. Explore eco-friendly materials like recycled or reclaimed ones. Choose energy-saving features like solar panels and intelligent lighting. Design buildings that can adapt to changing needs over time. Involve the local community in the design process. Keep learning and improving your sustainable design skills. By following these steps, you can create sustainable structures that are both environmentally friendly and creatively inspiring.

Incorporating creative thinking into sustainable structure design involves approaching the design process with innovation, imagination, and a focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability. By integrating creative thinking with sustainable design principles, you can develop innovative structures that not only minimize environmental impact but also contribute positively to society and the built environment.

This approach focuses on creating a cohesive system where all parts of the building work together harmoniously. For example, using waste heat from one process to power another, or designing buildings that can adapt their form to respond to changing environmental conditions.

Integrating systems thinking into incorporating creative thinking into sustainable structural design involves taking a holistic approach, collaborating with diverse experts, conducting life cycle assessments, using feedback loops, leveraging innovative technologies, and emphasizing regenerative design principles. This ensures that the design considers environmental, social, and economic factors while promoting innovation and sustainability.

I firmly believe in principles of sustainability in buildings and must emphasize the significance of enhancing the life of the building and making it more durable as it reduces the burden of demolition/ rebuilding. In addition, new alternate building materials, with lower carbon footprint, maybe used provided the required due diligence as per BIS Codes’ criteria is carried out to ensure structural strength and stability

The synergy between the building systems and components is a must to ensure the increased efficiency of the built environment. For instance application of vernacular architectural elements, in the buildings integrates them with nature and ensures a minimal carbon footprint, as compared to similar buildings without synergy of components. For instance generally, while most of the commercial spaces just take into account the economy of space irrespective of the well-being of nature-building-inhabitants system as a whole, the green buildings follow the sustainability principles thereby having minimal carbon footprint as compared to their existing counterparts. This integrates these buildings with the user and environment.

Integrating systems in structural engineering involves optimizing the interaction between various building components and systems to achieve enhanced performance, efficiency, and sustainability. This includes adopting a holistic design approach, fostering early collaboration among multidisciplinary teams, optimizing building performance through coordinated design and operation, implementing energy-efficient strategies, incorporating smart building technologies, integrating water conservation measures, designing for resilience, and conducting life cycle assessments to evaluate environmental impacts.

In adaptive reuse projects I've found great opportunities for creative thinking at the detailed design stage. It can be challenging to get the existing structure, desired aesthetic, and building code to work together. A good understanding of the principles and physics of the details and building codes can result in some unusual but highly desirable solutions.

Instead of demolishing old buildings and constructing new ones, adaptive reuse looks at how existing structures can be repurposed. This not only preserves historical architecture but also reduces the environmental impact associated with new construction.

An example I've seen supporting this idea is, the Architectural philosophy of pritzker prize winners of 2021 Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal, who created their straw hut made out of locally available bush and branches. Another project from them was transformation of the 530 dwelling units at Cite du Grand Parc. The whole idea was to use the existing structure and retrofit and refurbish it to the current needs so as to fulfill the needs without hurting the environment and eventually leading to less carbon footprint. The adaptive reuse of existing structures can certainly prove to be a corner stone in promoting sustainability in AEC industry.

We are involved in many such adaptive reuse projects; however the challenge always remains in ensuring the existing structural system has the desired integrity to cater to revised loadings and the revised BIS Code provisions . It often involves structural retrofitting which is usually quite messy if conventional techniques are implemented

Adaptive reuse in structural engineering involves repurposing existing buildings while preserving their architectural, historical, and cultural significance. It entails assessing the building's condition, designing with flexibility, preserving heritage features, making necessary structural modifications, integrating sustainability considerations, engaging stakeholders, ensuring code compliance, and considering lifecycle implications. Through careful planning and sensitive design interventions, engineers can transform old structures into functional, sustainable assets that contribute to the fabric of communities.

It’s a must to adopt a collaborative approach and integrate all the good ideas and considerations into the final design; however often all stakeholders’ inputs maynot come well in time and the Project timelines may not allow ample time for discussing and concluding on any areas of conflict

Often students asked why we are looking at other disciplines about what they are doing, we are engineers not architects, why do we bother? Engineers need to be trained to look at a much wider picture than solving a localised problem. Collaboration and understanding are both very important elements in our holistic design from start to finish, which is very important in the undergraduate education.

Building cannot be built in isolation. Collaboration is the key towards a successful and sustainable design for any project. A fully functional building is a result of collaboration among various skills from AEC industry. Starting from inception through completion a building goes through various phases, getting the inputs from designers, environmental specialists, engineers, quantity surveyors and contractors etc. Henceforth latest Softwares and tools have been developed and are in practice nowadays to smoothen this process of collaboration throughout the life-cycle of a project. For instance BIM is the most famous and prevalent software environment with softwares like Revit and Navis works, that is taking over the AEC industry.

This involves working with a diverse group of people from different disciplines to come up with innovative solutions. Collaboration can lead to a more holistic approach to design that considers a wide range of perspectives and expertise.

In my experience, modular design would be a key to reduce the waste of materials in construction and cost, which may lead to monotony in the sense of space.

Exploring new materials or new uses for existing materials can lead to more sustainable structures. This could involve using recycled materials, materials with lower carbon footprints, or materials that are more durable and require less maintenance.

With the rise of AI and computation power, we no longer needing to spend as much time on the traditional structural design. This is a new opportunity for us to spend more time on drilling down on the materials selection and elevating the carbon.

Bamboo ,wood , reused bricks and matured stone boulders as well brick dust with lime may be used for construction of sustainable structure, I have seen more than 50 Buildings which are more than 100 yers old and up till now , they are in very good conditions. Further, due to very high cost of Steel and cement RCC structures are not favourable for poor people of India. At present I am not free. Hence, further discussion will be conducted in due course.

To create innovative thinking into sustainable construction is when a product or combination of products usage to maintain the life cycle of a project or enhance its life cycle of 50years or 60years, this happens when these innovative ideas or systems using these products contribute to protect the project from harsh climatic conditions.

Constru??o sustentável implica uso de materiais sustentaveis. Certamente as características do bambo s?o a referência desses materiais. E explorando mais o nosso belo planeta é nossa miss?o e vis?o ir atrás dessas similaridades e desenvolver o mundo da Constru??o.

Incorporating smart technology into buildings can significantly increase their efficiency and sustainability. This could include automated systems for energy management, water conservation, or even structural monitoring to predict and prevent issues before they arise.

A implementa??o de novos matérias descobertos e aprovados como optimizantes à constru??o sustentável é vital ao recursos tecnológicos. Como por exemplo o desenvolvimento de cálculos de dimensionamento desses matéria (exemplo o bambo) em softwares de concep??o estrutural, como o REVIT E ROBOT STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS. Introduzir esses matérias às tecnologias BIM, e desenvolver uma documenta??o vigente.

The important points to consider are: 1. Prioritize energy efficiency and bring in energy-efficient systems. 2. Utilize renewable and recycled materials. 3. Go modular and design for flexibility. 4. Focus on human-centric design to improve design efficiency. 5. Design for longevity. 6. Interdisciplinary collaboration.

Upcycling and Repurposing: Exploring creative ways to repurpose waste materials into valuable resources, products, and artworks. By giving new life to discarded materials through upcycling, innovative solutions can be generated that reduce waste, conserve resources, and inspire sustainable consumption habits.

Maybe a way to make a building more sustainable could be to calculate the amount of waste material created if it is going to be demolished. Now there are factors to score buildings based on the energy they use, or the carbon used to build them, while the waste material could be an important factor to score too.

Creative??ideas of Sustainable Structural ????is more about 7R Reduce????Reuse????Recycle??Reduce??Rethink ??Regift ??Repair????Refuse??. Appreciating ??& Buiding????Green Buildings with Requires bare min. Artificial Energy?, resources. It's more of Understanding ??the Significance of Sustainable Structures by Collaborating between structural Engineers, Architects, Environmental experts to Build Awesome??Better World ??. Using latest Technology ????like 3 D printing ,Artificial Intelligence????where we can use the waste materials to Build????our Beautiful Homes????officies??. Having Brainstorming ??sessions with our inmates & sharing each other's perspectives ??understand the perspectives to Build Sustainable Structures ??????.

It always helps to read. General awareness always helps in design. In addition, understand the requirements and draw up a basic framework of what you want to achieve. Case studies always help. They can get you started in a certain direction of thought from where the design may evolve.