Welcome
The idea of sustainable design is critical to our 21st century lifestyles. Our national and global energy consumption habits are creating ever-increasing environmental, geopolitical, and economic challenges, and the largest area of energy consumption is in the built environment: Buildings consume nearly half of the energy consumed in the United States every year.
Sustainability, or meeting our needs without compromising the lives and lifestyles of future generations, promises to be the biggest challenge of the 21st century.
Sustainability is so critical, in fact, that the researchers in the Institute for Sustainable Design (ISD) hope someday to make the word itself unnecessary -- All design will be sustainable.
The Institute for Sustainable Design is responding to the challenge of creating a sustainable future in the following ways:
- Education. Northwest industries and governments are leaders in the sustainability movement. Through the Institute for Sustainable Design, WSU will contribute by training students in best sustainability practices. Concepts in sustainability are being introduced throughout engineering and architecture curricula, and the institute hopes to integrate sustainable design into senior capstone design projects.
- Development of New Knowledge. The Institute for Sustainable Design brings together faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, design professionals, manufacturers, and suppliers in a stimulating, interactive environment that will serve as a model for how academia and industry can solve societal problems of sustainability. The institute builds on existing strengths in renewable building materials discovery and sustainable building design, particularly through the world-renowned work of the Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory (WMEL).
- Interaction Across Disciplines. The College of Engineering and Architecture is unique in having architecture, construction management, and engineering programs within one college. The ISD provides the opportunity for an integrated approach that will be necessary to tackle the multi-faceted challenge of sustainability and energy efficiency.
- Outreach. The ISD will serve as a resource for architecture, engineering and construction firms throughout the country, as well as well as for building regulatory organizations. At the institute, researchers will work with firms and contractors to build and test mockups of building systems.
News & Events
Relevancy: The Real Gap in Higher Education Funding
Home takes 'going green' to a whole new level
Class Looks to Conserve Resources
WSU's Institute for Sustainable Design takes off
Weyerhaeuser, WSU to Address Sustainability Efforts
Strategies for Tomorrow: Re-engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment
Designers of an innovative bridge receive prestigious award from American Council of Engineering Companies.
Students Compete in Solar Decathlon. Students in architecture, construction management, interior design and engineering competed in the national Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition on the National Mall in Washington DC.
Wave of the Future. Washington State University assistant professor of architecture Robert Barnstone and 10 architectectural design students recently completed what is essentially the world's first wood-plastic building.