Architecture and Environmental Sustainability: Critical Issues in Vernacular Kampong of Bena, Flores

The word of sustainability has acquired great importance due to the negative impact of various developments on the environment. The rapid developments in rural and urban area during the last decade have been accompanied by active construction which sometimes neglected the impact on the natural environment and human activities. One of the impacts of developments is occurred on the traditional heritage area, as the vernacular architecture of kampong of Bena, Flores, which has not been taken into consideration although the latter represents a rich resource for sustainable building practices. The study aims at examining these developments in the vernacular kampong of Bena, Flores by using an assessment tool that measures the performance of buildings in terms of their sustainability. This study attempts to: (a) develop a comprehensive definition of sustainability to suit the (indigenous) people needs; (b) classify sustainable building practices at local and regional levels; and (c) establish guidelines for future sustainable architecture. Results illustrate that average energy use in contemporary buildings is high and traditional buildings showed less sustainable measures in terms of energy features, energy performance and environmental features. Issues considered in the assessment of buildings such as energy use per square meter and CO2 emission are alarming. Traditional buildings in the vernacular kampongs of Flores were more sustainable than contemporary buildings.