Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Emily Potts
To create a resilient future, architectural design students must be trained to understand today’s challenges associated with quantifying embodied carbon and designing within a fledgling circular materials economy. In the Spring of 2022, interior architecture students at Sacramento State University were guided through an unexpected opportunity to deconstruct the defunct Solar Decathlon house. They spent the better part of the semester working as a team to remove, count, downcycle, and donate as much of the material from the building as was safely possible. The students then categorized and analyzed their results and considered what they had learned about the flexibility of each component for reuse. The house’s concrete foundation was also its largest embodied carbon emitter, but this was only part of the story. Like a thousand tiny papercuts, this project also revealed a multitude of materials that could not be readily removed, quantified, reused, or diverted from a landfill. The process of deconstruction exposed these elements and prompted questions about the connections between carbon, labor and design. The hands-on nature of this project was a practical and relevant way for students to begin to engage with calculating embodied carbon, understanding the economic system of reclaimed materials, and designing for deconstruction. Lastly, this project opens questions about immediate need and methods to teach students about embodied carbon in existing buildings and the challenges we face in designing a carbon-neutral and resilient future.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.22.17
Volume Editors
Gail Napell & Stephen Mueller
ISBN
978-1-944214-42-13
