BACKGROUND:

If passive and active solar design are considered to be principal co-contributors to achieving sustainable development, how are these issues being addressed in the current curriculum? Not all students will be able to have the opportunity to experience Sustainable Centers such as the YMCA Camp or Center for Regenerative Studies. Are schools of architecture responding to the recognized need to address issues of sustainability in courses and design projects?

I am in the process of completing a Survey of Sustainability and Passive Design teaching in Schools of Architecture in the United States and Canada.^(Ref.1) The data will provide a snapshot of the current status of sustainable and passive design^(Ref.2) teaching in architectural schools -- whether or not these topics are being taught, to what extent and via which means. Preliminary data is based on 68 responses representing 53 schools of architecture in the United States and Canada.^(Ref.3) Respondents are typically teachers of Environmental Control Systems and Building Technology. Although the results of the Survey are not complete for the publication of this article, I will include some preliminary information at this point in time. The complete documentation is expected to be published in the Spring of 1996.

INTRODUCTION:

A breath of freshness is currently revitalizing architectural education in Canada and the United States. The focus of architectural curricula is beginning to look outward and beyond formal issues of "style". Recognition of the impact of Architecture and Urban Development on our dwindling supply of natural resources for both construction as well as embodied^{(Ref. 4)} and operating energy^{(Ref. 5)} has necessitated a restructuring of the curriculum to focus on issues of sustainability and passive design, not merely as appended "technical" topics, but as conceptually directive considerations in the formation of environmentally conscious design. Such courses are being offered on both a core and an elective basis, as well as the primary focus of design studios. Research and development in the field is beginning to recognize a new "Sustainable Vernacular".

Although there seems to be much abuzz regarding the teaching of sustainability to students of architecture, the current state of this teaching is not clearly defined. In an effort to understand the present condition of sustainable education, I am conducting a United States - Canada ^{(Ref. 6)} Survey on the influence of "Sustainability and Passive Design"^{(Ref. 7)} on curricular content and direction in schools of architecture. The purpose of this paper is to present a snapshot of the current status of passive and sustainable teaching; address issues in approach related to "regionality" -- on both a geographic and climatic basis; and review preferred teaching resource packages, texts, videos and software. Respondents are typically teachers of Environmental Control Systems and Building Technology.(Figure 5) Delinquent surveys are being pursued in an effort to more thoroughly complete the database to allow for an accurate geographic analysis. This version of the paper reflects the September 95 status of the analysis.

The original survey established questions based on four areas of concern:

A. General: The overall status of sustainable and passive design teaching in the school and the perception of impending change with regard to this status.

B. Sustainable Design: More definitive information regarding actual numbers of courses being taught and the format of that teaching.

C. Passive Design: More definitive information regarding actual numbers of courses being taught and the format of that teaching.

D. Support Material: A bibliography of recommended texts and references, videos, software and resource packages for teaching, as well as information regarding computer platform preferences.

Based on feedback from the first survey, as well as some particular questions arising from issues raised at the American Solar Energy Society's Passive Design Conference in July 1995, an Addendum Survey addresses:

E.