An HCI Perspective on Sustainable GenAI Integration in Architectural Design Education

2026-03-03

AI Summary

This study addresses the lack of systematic assessment of the environmental costs associated with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in architectural education, which creates tension between sustainability imperatives and critical technology use. For the first time, this work systematically introduces human-computer interaction (HCI) approaches to the field, reconceptualizing GenAI integration as a sociotechnical process rather than merely a design tool. It proposes three pathways for sustainable integration: contextualized ecological feedback, participatory stakeholder mapping, and data centers as an interdisciplinary pedagogical focal point. By doing so, the research offers both a theoretical framework and practical guidance for balancing GenAI adoption with environmental responsibility in architectural education, thereby advancing an ecological consciousness within design pedagogy.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & Storytelling
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Agent Architectures

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic ramifications for generative AI infrastructure and applications
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

Generative AI (genAI) is increasingly influencing architectural design practice and is expected to affect, or even transform, the profession, even though its benefits and costs remain unresolved. In response, design schools are increasingly integrating genAI into their curricula. Yet this integration creates a paradox: critical engagement with genAI often requires increased use of the tools in question, despite limited methods for estimating their environmental cost in teaching contexts. In this paper, we argue that HCI offers a useful methodological lens for addressing this tension. We propose three HCI-informed directions for more sustainable genAI integration in architectural education: contextual eco-feedback, participatory stakeholder scoping, and reframing data centres as an interdisciplinary focus. We therefore argue that genAI should be understood not only as a new architectural design tool, but also as a socio-technical process that architectural education, and design education in general, must engage with critically.

Problem

• Generative AI
• sustainability
• architectural education
• environmental cost
• HCI

Innovation

• sustainable GenAI integration
• human-computer interaction (HCI)
• eco-feedback
• participatory scoping
• data centre pedagogy