Paper

Teaching carbon responsibility to first year architecture and engineering design students

---

Abstract

In architecture and engineering schools in the US, environmentally responsible building technologies are often taught in upper division curricula. This paper argues that environmental ethics and responsible material use should be foundational to architecture and engineering design education. The authors discuss a pedagogical framework developed for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo first year architecture and architectural engineering students for introducing carbon responsibility through an ethic of wood use where wood is locally sourced and kept in use through buildings and furniture products. Over the course of a term, students engaged with the full arc of the life cycle and use of wood in buildings. This involved planting trees, watching a milling demonstration using local urban wood, and designing an all-wood speculative project. The term culminated in the design and fabrication of a functional full-scale wood object, made of donated urban wood, which students constructed with minimal or no glue. Using local wood rather than Home Depot lumber for the 240-person studio saved over 1,000 kilograms (1.1 tons) of carbon dioxide emissions from transport.

Keywords: Foundation Design Pedagogy, Wood Structures, Carbon Sequestration, Urban Wood, Circularity

How to Cite:

Olsen, C., di Santo, T. & Benito, C., (2023) “Teaching carbon responsibility to first year architecture and engineering design students”, Building Technology Educators’ Society 2023(1), 240-245. doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/btes.1958