Environmental sustainability

The world's first sustainable design accreditation scheme for professional architects is being piloted by the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland (RIAS) and Fionn Stevenson, Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, DJCAD, is one of only three nominated assessors.

The scheme is part of a £600,000 programme to promote sustainable design in the built environment, sponsored by the Scottish Executive and developed by The Lighthouse, Scotland’s Centre for Architectural Design and the Urban Environment.

The evaluation grades architects from a level of one (for domestic buildings) through to five (major buildings of significance) and also has a star rating for architects demonstrating innovation and research development. Fionn was also involved in drawing up the assessment criteria for the award, which include energy efficiency, waste minimisation, water efficiency, and biodiversity among others.

She said, "The assessment procedure is extremely rigorous so that potential clients can rest assured that the accreditated architect has genuine experience in successfully designing buildings at a certain level of scale and complexity using sustainability principles. We will only evaluate buildings that have been completed for at least 12 months, and the accreditation goes personally to the architect applying, not just the firm."

As resident sustainability expert, Fionn debated the merits of green energy with a number of solar power experts at a recent conference at the University.

With renewable sources of energy increasingly on the political agenda, the conference - a three-way collaboration between Dundee City Council "SunCity" initiative, The Scottish Ecological Design Association and the University - examined how Dundee and Scotland can lead the way in developing cutting-edge technology to harness the power of the sun and provide reliable, cost-effective energy to homes and businesses across the country.

Fionn said, "I am calling on the Executive to legislate to ensure that new builds have renewable sources as the first source of energy when possible. We have to make full use of the potential of renewable sources if this target is to be reached.

Our aim is to boost solar investment in Tayside, which is one of the sunniest spots in Scotland and ideal for this type of renewable energy. Most people don't realise that solar energy actually becomes more cost effective in a colder climate because it can offset a longer heating season, which spreads into the spring and autumn."