Integrating sustainability in the architectural design education process - taxonomy of challenges and guidelines

The last decade have seen substantial calls and increasing pressure for developing an integrated design teaching framework, where sustainability is an imperative priority. This paper focuses on presenting a taxonomy of the main challenges encountered within the educational domain, in the attempt to reach an effective integration. The paper also presents a set guidelines to address and try to resolve the noted challenges. As the use of Building Performance Simulation (BPS) applications is a central approach in this process aiming to reach energy efficient buildings, the paper focuses on the shortcomings noted as a result of the use of these applications in the design studios, with particular emphasis on the thermal and lighting aspects of the simulation. The taxonomy presented is a summary of the findings from literature review, as well as the surveys results which were part of the author's research project discussed in the paper.