“It’s now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible” forewarned Jim Skea, a professor at Imperial College London and co-chair of the working group behind the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest comprehensive review of climate science on Monday, April 2, 2022.
For years, the news about how appalling our world’s climate has become over the past couple or even decade of years is completely not new to anyone. Numerous reports coming across all boards from various environmental groups saying how much time is only left before the occurrence of the total catastrophic consequences; how vertiginous the severity will become and what is even worse, the possibility of these odds as irreversible, has made humanity in shambles, for a moment. Some in the past frankly assumed even for a bit that the global situation would at least become manageable years after.
However, it turned out almost the complete opposite of what they initially thought. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported last Monday that the global temperatures would likely rise above 1.5 degrees Celsius in 2025 caused by human activities primarily burning fossil fuels that according to National Geographic, are responsible for almost three-fourths of carbon emissions in the last 20 years. Drastic changes would then become inevitable if the awful situation continues; heatwaves, extreme drought, melting of glaciers and ice sheets, a rise in sea level, and a lot more unfathomable adversities that developing and poor countries would likely suffer the most.
Although each and everyone across the globe definitely contributed to the emerging carbon footprint, gigantic oil, gas, and industrial or the built environment companies should have taken more accountability by recalibrating their visions and taking the necessary action before the chance of getting the normal global temperature becomes even narrower.
According to a recent webinar about carbon emission and the built environment done by the University of Canberra in Australia, the built environment as a whole contributes around 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions alone, making it a significant contributor to global warming and climate change because of the needed burning of fossil fuels for energy and for the cement production. Undeniably, the current built industry, in general, is quite far from achieving a zero-carbon journey. To put it simply, it should conform to what is more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, the architecture industry can also make a huge impact. Reassessing perhaps even changing how should one practice the profession which ultimately can become a game-changer.
Ar. Lizzie Crook, assistant director for architecture at Dezeen, a newsletter based in London enumerated 10 ways in which architects can contribute to the betterment of the current state of the earth which is a home and a shelter for billions of people and other living and non-living things.
Building with Timber
One of the biggest benefits of building with timber is that it can sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and store it within a building for as long as it stands. This can help achieve carbon-negative buildings by offsetting the carbon emissions generated through construction and operation.
Going carbon-neutral
Making buildings carbon-neutral or, better still, carbon-negative architecture is a key concern for many architects today. The terminology around this push is confusing but, generally speaking, a net carbon-neutral building is one that does not contribute any CO2 to the atmosphere over its lifetime, taking into account its construction, the materials used to build it plus the resources required to run it and decommission it.
Rewilding
Rewilding is an approach to restoring ecosystems that let nature get on with the work itself with minimum human interference. For architects, this offers the opportunity to take biodiversity into account both when landscaping their projects and when choosing materials, to ensure their extraction and manufacture do not lead to the depletion of natural resources.
Meeting the Passivhaus standards
Since its origin in the 1990s, the Passivhaus energy performance standard has become one of the best-known ways to create sustainable architecture. Awarded by the non-profit organization the Passivhaus Trust, the standard encourages buildings that have high levels of insulation and airtightness so that they require minimal artificial heating and cooling.
Reversible Design
Creating reversible architecture aligns with the aims of a circular economy – a closed-loop system where all materials are reused to eliminate any waste. Creating buildings that can be dissembled means that their components can be reused on other projects.
Non-extractive Architecture
A term coined by Italian research studio Space Caviar to express the idea that buildings should not exploit the planet or people. Non-extractive architecture questions the assumption that building must inevitably cause some kind of irreversible damage or depletion somewhere – preferably somewhere else – and the best we can do as architects are limit the damage done.”
Biomimicry
Another way in which architecture could help combat climate change is by making use of biomimicry, an approach that emulates natural systems. According to architect Michael Pawlyn, entire cities could help stop climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere by mimicking the process of bio-mineralization, by which lifeforms such as micro-organisms in the sea turn carbon into limestone and other carbon-rich minerals.
Restorative architecture
This is also known as regenerative architecture, refers to structures that have a positive impact on the environment.
Retrofitting
Retrofitting typically carried out to improve the energy efficiency and thermal performance of a building, reducing its dependence on heating and cooling, or to update a structure that may otherwise be torn down.
Establishing climate action groups
Architects are also addressing the impact of the built environment on the planet through grassroots initiatives such as climate action groups, in which they can raise awareness and share knowledge about climate change.
It really is now or never. Without immediate global action, the remaining time left where tranquility can be felt around could only last for a few more years. It is not only one’s future that will be taken away – it is everyone’s. Since tomorrow has never been promised, everyone’s collective effort to bring change must be done today. Architects do not only plan for one’s dream house, but also for the tomorrow that has been dreamed of by many – a picture of tomorrow where the homes of billions of people still exists.
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