Course Information: ARCH 4621
Department of Architecture, Cornell University

ARCH 4621 Sustainable Architecture: the Science and Politics of Green Building

Spring 2021

Jonathan Ochshorn

Assignment for week 9

REMINDER: For in-class presentation, email chosen project and team member names to the instructor by April 6, 2021: projects cannot duplicate other projects already chosen.

Read the following:

Crosby, Children of the Sun, "Fossilized Sunshine (pp. 59-62) and "Oil and the ICE," (pp. 85-100)
Weissenbacher, Sources of Power (Introduction pp. xi - xxiii)
LEED reference guide v.4.1, credits and prerequisites related to Energy

Optional: My critique of the LEED guidelines for Energy (first part only).

For all students:

Read all selections.
Email the writing assignment (selected students only) or paragraph response (all other students) to me no later than 11:00 am on the day of class. Writing assignments can be sent as attachments (PDF or word.doc). Paragraph responses can be embedded directly into the body of the email.

Writing assignment (only for selected students)

Read all selections. Given the "trajectory" outlined by Crosby and Weissenbacher, what might be the next logical (or illogical) step in the evolution of sources of energy for humans? How do state-enforced energy codes and the various voluntary LEED energy credits help or hinder that trajectory?
Be prepared to read (or otherwise present) a condensed version of your paper in class (7–10 minutes).
Paper should be 1000–1300 words, or approximately 3–4 typed pages, 1.5 line spacing.

For all students except those selected for the writing assignment.

Write a short (1-paragraph) response to a sentence extracted from one of the readings that you found interesting or provocative. Provide a footnote citation for the quotation you have chosen using the "notes and bibliography system."¹

¹ You can find information on citations in the Chicago Manual of Style. (You can leave out page numbers.)