Budapest University of Technology, Department of Residential Building Design

Text: Réka Mándoki

Sustainable development is “promoting prosperity while protecting the planet”. In terms of sustainability in residential buildings, this translates into providing affordable and decent homes for all people, while making our buildings as environmentally friendly as possible, by using as few materials as possible and using technical solutions that will last as long as possible.

The Sustainable Housing Workshop of the Department of Residential Building Design of the BME School of Architecture and Building Technology (BME ÉPK) considers sustainability along a triple bottom line principle, taking into account economic, social and environmental criteria. It looks at issues such as how and what to build with, how to save energy for housing, and how to reduce the ecological footprints of buildings through housing use. With the involvement of their students, they use the opportunities provided by the university to work on real design problems of today, often in collaboration with local authorities.