AN INTEGRATED BUILDING DESIGN APPROACH

Architectural design is becoming each day a more complex process while it seeks to embrace thevarious aspects of sustainability. The way how the buildings are affected by their own shape andmaterials, how the urban environment is affected by it and how this will affect the building, becomes acritical issue of the design process for sustainable architecture. The architectural design processshould be dynamic and look holistically at all building technologies and systems, including the urbandimension. Designing towards sustainability is designing with an integrated approach.This paper discusses the subject of integrated approach to building design. It addresses in particularthe integration of sustainable aspects in the architectural design process. The paper is structured in sixparts. The first part introduces the topic, the second defines integrated design, the third discusses therole of the architect in the design team, the fourth illustrates some barriers to the integration of thevarious environmental aspects into the design process, the fifth develops the topic indicating possibledirections to overcome existing barriers and, finally, the sixth part summarizes the main conclusions.