Dear Cindy,

I just recently completed my thesis which is entitled:

Design Thinking and the Precautionary Principle: Development of a Theoretical 
Model Complementing Preventive Judgment for Design for Sustainability enriched 
through a Study of Architectural Competitions adopting LEED
The three competitions that were studied had varying levels of sustainability 
criteria defined in their briefs. One of the critiques coming from the analysis 
of this study was that the sustainability criteria in Canadian competitions is 
still today predominantly defined through technical or environmental strategies 
and on the most part ignores the other pillars of sustainability. 


The main premise behind this thesis is that current tools that help assess 
impacts (whether social, economic or environmental) adopt a preventive approach 
(short and medium term) rather than a long term perspective (based on the 
underlying theory of the precautionary principle). This is in direct 
contradiction with the objectives of sustainability. 



Best regards,
Carmela


Carmela Cucuzzella, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Concordia University
Design and Computation Arts
Montreal, Canada





________________________________
From: Terence Love <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, May 22, 2011 2:02:11 AM
Subject: Re: sustainability criteria in design competitions

Dear Cindy,
Sustainability issues in design were  significant frm the 60s and throughout the 
70s and 80s in both architecture and engineering design. Interestingly, at that 
time, sustainabilioty in design of buildings was often  considered primrily an 
engineering design and technology  issue rather than being part of the work of 
architects. Hence you might find design competitions that include sustainability 
more in the engineering design literature of that time. Alternative words that 
were used in the 60s, 70s and 80s  were 'environmental design', 'appropriate 
technology design', 'alternative technology'. Google searches on all these terms 
+ 'design competition' + year seem to show a good number of results.
Best wishes,
Terry

-----Original Message-----
From: "Cindy Kohtala" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 2:21am
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: sustainability criteria in design competitions

Hello,

Can someone direct me to a paper or study that has reviewed national or
international design competitions and their criteria - specifically
regarding when (or if) they began incorporating sustainability issues?
I'm looking into how the definition of 'good design' or 'design value' is
expanding from traditional definitions/criteria (form, function, market
share, etc.) to addressing environmental and social sustainability
principles - how and when this becomes visible through national design
policies and design competitions.

Thank you

Cindy Kohtala
doctoral candidate, Aalto University School of Art and Design
Helsinki, Finland