Buildings are currently responsible for 33% of global energy consumption and 39% of greenhouse gas emissions.
“We should develop energy-efficient and low-footprint solutions for buildings, while resilience compels us to create scalable and responsive solutions simultaneously.”
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The PM wants to build:
Build back better: build back greener – Vision Group for Sidmouth
But he also wants to host next year’s follow-up to the Paris accord:
A green pandemic recovery – Vision Group for Sidmouth
And a key to keeping our carbon commitments is to reduce the impact of what and how we build:
Decarbonising buildings – Vision Group for Sidmouth
What is a ‘net-zero carbon’ building? – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Circular construction: a solution to embodied carbon in buildings – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Ideas for energy-efficient building – Vision Group for Sidmouth
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The Arch Daily website has some excellent pieces looking at the issues.
This taken from today’s:
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What Are the Megatrends Reshaping the Architecture Field and the Construction Industry?
At the 2019 Climate Action Summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated: “The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.” For the construction industry, this race is especially challenging, since buildings and construction together account for 39% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when upstream power generation is included, according to the UN Environment Global Status Report 2017.
Rising temperatures—prompted by the climate crisis—fuel environmental degradation, worsen natural disasters, and increase disaster frequency, leading to food and water insecurity as well as economic disruption due to unexpected changes in the production matrix, which may fuel geopolitical conflicts in turn…
Every year, 6.13 billion square meters of buildings are constructed. These buildings should be designed according to the climatic conditions of the present and, to reduce waste, be built for a 100-year lifespan. Moreover, the crisis urges architects to develop energy-efficient and low-footprint solutions for buildings and construction, and to explore recycling and the potential of a circular economy. Moreover, manufacturer companies should be on board with global-scale actions such as the WWF-backed Science Based Targets Initiatives (SBTi) and the Saint Gobain Net-Zero Carbon by 2050 initiative in order to decarbonize the market.
Supplementing these aims, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) works as a global blueprint for designers, developers, policymakers, and citizens to implement strategic policies and market incentives that will change the pace and scale of actions in the global buildings market.
On a finite planet, where infinite growth is expected to feed our growing population, these times require significant change…
On the other hand, the current pandemic and climate crises are reshaping the idea of resilience. After stress tests such as the COVID-19 outbreak or the frequent environmental disasters this year, should cities spring back to their original form? Cem Kayatekin points out that the definition of resilience as inertia is rooted in material science, whereas in ecology, for example, the jungle responds to pressure by “responding to changes, evolving over time.”
Therefore, the main challenge for architecture and construction at this time is developing a built environment that can actually evolve, especially in emerging countries for which the consequences might be most severe. Moreover, as architects, designers, and developers, the present state of the climate crisis requires us to design projects that actively contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming. Does your project help or damage? We should develop energy-efficient and low-footprint solutions for buildings, while resilience compels us to create scalable and responsive solutions simultaneously…
What Are the Megatrends Reshaping the Architecture Field and the Construction Industry? | ArchDaily
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This piece is from earlier in the year:
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Butterfly Effect: 4 Principles for Fighting Global Issues Through Architecture
In industrialized countries, buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption, with the majority providing heating or cooling services. Much of this energy is wasted due to inefficiencies in construction projects that are not well-adapted to their environment, climate, or local reality. Demographic projections show that in 2050, 70% of the world population will live in cities. Megacities are expected to develop and multiply, mainly in Africa and Asia, which will lead to strong territorial transformations, new forms of construction, and shifting expectations for cities and inhabitants. At the same time, already consolidated urban areas should focus on urban planning reforms and revitalization…
The civil construction sector is considered low-tech, tending to produce an enormous amount of waste. Gradually, technology has begun to provide greater control, precision, and automation of repetitive processes, with the goal of improving productivity on construction sites.
Butterfly Effect: 4 Principles for Fighting Global Issues Through Architecture | ArchDaily
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Finally, to repost a piece already covered:
Decarbonising buildings – Vision Group for Sidmouth
… because it summarises pretty much everything:
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Urgent Issue: 10 Strategies to Decarbonize Architecture
The concept of “decarbonization” has been in vogue recently in political speeches and global environmental events, but it has not yet gained enough attention in the field of architecture to profoundly change the way we design and construct the world of tomorrow. Buildings are currently responsible for 33% of global energy consumption and 39% of greenhouse gas emissions, indicating that architects must play a significant role if we are to stop or reverse climate change. With carbon acting as a universally agreed upon metric with which the greenhouse gas emissions of a building can be tracked [1], one of the most important ways through which this goal can be achieved is therefore the decarbonization of buildings.
… we outline ten strategies below to decarbonize architecture, ranging from important considerations, to procedures, to products and documents that could serve practical use for architects looking for concrete solutions…
Urgent Issue: 10 Strategies to Decarbonize Architecture | ArchDaily