A method of designing and monitoring housing schemes
It takes great rigour to meet residents’ needs in an innovative way while also keeping costs down. That is why Ecofaubourgs® has come up with its own designing, planning and monitoring methodology to direct the implementation of each scheme.
This methodology was developed jointly with the HSLU (Lucerne) and Wohnforum (ETH Zurich) and defines a number of sustainability criteria as well as translating the Ecofaubourgs® vision into a set of design guidelines. The methodology also specifies how each scheme is to be steered, monitored and evaluated.
It is this comprehensive approach that enables Ecofaubourgs® to develop housing schemes that are as profitable as they are innovative. By linking technical specifications to sustainability and urban sociology, it aims to optimize resource management and encourage residents to appropriate the scheme and its services, while also making sure that the scheme will be profitable.
Ecofaubourgs® strike a new balance between individual needs and social necessity.
The design and monitoring approach used by Ecofaubourgs® significantly increases a scheme’s profitability. The approach is based on a long-term vision that takes account of the buildings’ whole lifecycle and thereby limits the amount of maintenance they require. At the same time, the attention paid to residents’ well-being optimizes the rate and length of occupancy.
The Ecofaubourgs® approach is deliberately holistic and transdisciplinary. Developed with the aid of the HSLU Lucerne and the ETH Zurich, it thinks of habitat as a space in which identity and subjectivity can express themselves and as a place where social relationships can flourish. Therefore, it does not stop at selecting and implementing the most efficient construction techniques, but also takes account of residents’ lifestyles and how they use the buildings.