Slow Studio at Architect@Work
Next Thursday, March 16, 2023, Jade Serra will give a presentation as part of the seminar program at the international conference Architect@Work Spain, which takes place on March 15 and 16. In addition to our partner Jade Serra, the conference will also feature Albert Cuchí as a representative of the decarbonization group of the COAC, Carlos Ferrater and Núria Ayala – OAB, Mónica Tárrega Klein – E:1/1, and Sergi Carulla and Oscar Blasco – SCOB.
The title of the conference is Minimal Impact Architecture.
Introductory Summary
In a scenario of climate emergency, and having generally accepted that architecture must have zero energy consumption, the need arises to address the remaining impacts of the built environment.
Carbon emissions, the use of natural resources, and the impact on human health, among other impacts generated throughout a project’s life cycle, are issues already regulated in some European countries that we must begin to consider to build buildings in harmony with the planet and with people.
If you attended the conference or watched the recording and wish to learn more about the sources mentioned, we provide the reference for each of them here.
CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS GRAPH
IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change
This graph includes the 8 plausible global warming scenarios accepted by the IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – which issues an assessment report every 5-7 years.
The graph has been extracted from the summary for policymakers on climate change mitigation, a study that compiles options for global climate change mitigation, highlighting some key relevant developments: an evolving international landscape, greater diversity of actors and approaches to mitigation, close links between climate change mitigation, adaptation and development pathways, new approaches to assessment, and increased diversity of analytical frameworks from multiple disciplines, including social sciences.
For further information, we also recommend reading the summary for policymakers on the Physical Science Basis (2021).
IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis
This is another IPCC study on the physical science basis of climate change, divided into four sections: the current state of the climate, possible future climates, climate information for risk assessment and regional adaptation, and limiting future climate change.
THE UNINHABITABLE EARTH BOOK – David Wallace-Wells
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming starts from the premise that our world is ending and asks, what can we do? A harrowing account of how we are hurtling the planet towards its demise.
Today, rising sea levels are a widespread cause for alarm among those who have abandoned the dream that global warming is a myth. However, this is not even the tip of the iceberg of threats to life on Earth: fires, hurricanes, droughts, floods… All these disturbing manifestations of climate change, already recurrent for millions of people, are just a preview of what is to come.
With precision and lucidity, David Wallace-Wells, an American journalist known for his writings on climate change, constructs a kaleidoscopic narrative of the consequences that our impassivity in the face of the ecological crisis will have in just one generation; all presented as a call for change.
SCIENTIST REBELLION MOVEMENT
Scientist Rebellion is an international organization of environmental scientists that campaigns for degrowth with the aim of raising awareness about global warming through non-violent civil disobedience. They denounce political inaction in the face of the climate and ecological crisis, calling it criminal and demonstrating that delaying action means deaths.
After decades of scientific publications warning of the dangers of the consumption model and greenhouse gas emissions, these continue to rise. As members of the scientific community, who understand the extreme gravity of the problem, they feel a responsibility to act and to do so alongside citizens who trust their knowledge and scientific collectives.
FERNANDO VALLADARES, CSIC SCIENTIST
“It is no coincidence that the health of ecosystems and that of people follow the same principles” with this quote, Fernando Valladares, a scientist and research professor at the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), presents himself. He is one of the most prominent climate scientists in our country, an excellent communicator and climate activist, and a member of the Scientist Rebellion movement.
Valladares aims to discuss the strong relationships between health and the loss of environmental biodiversity. Many of his reflections focus on Spain and the necessary regulations or legislation on issues such as large-scale agricultural operations or mega-farms.
Furthermore, he has developed a website as dynamic as his profile, full of videos and publications, where we highlight a section with all his books and another with infographics that summarize complex data very clearly in a single image. These reflections are summarized in a very understandable way on his Instagram account @la_salud_de_la_humanidad.
PETER KALMUS, NASA SCIENTIST
Peter Kalmus is an American scientist and writer, working as a data scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and also as an associate project scientist at UCLA’s Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering. In addition to his scientific work, he is the author of the book Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution and the complementary documentary of the same title. Besides writing articles on climate change, he is the founder of the website noflyclimatesci.org, an association of people who do not fly or are trying to fly less due to their growing environmental awareness. His Instagram account @climatehuman is full of short reflections that demonstrate his great work and activism.
AUS – ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATION OF THE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTS OF CATALONIA
Arquitectura i Sostenibilitat (AUS) is an association of architects committed to the climate emergency, actively participating in achieving a more sustainable model of architecture and urban planning: carbon-independent and free from non-renewable energy sources, resource-efficient, culturally and territorially rooted, and a driving force for the sustainable transformation of society.
Our partner, Jade Serra, is part of the Association’s board of directors and an active member of the decarbonization group.
EMBODIED CARBON – ARCHITECTS CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK
This graph is extracted from the decarbonization reports of the ACAN network in Great Britain.
ACAN is the Architects Climate Action Network, an independent network of British architects fighting for climate action, which, among other issues, addresses the urgent need for embodied carbon regulation in buildings in Great Britain through outreach, training seminars, conferences, and political action.
The group dedicated to decarbonization has issued two reports, one is the Full Report:
ACAN, 2021: The Carbon Footprint in Construction. Full Report
And the other is a brief, few-page document:
ACAN, 2021: The Carbon Footprint in Construction. Briefing
EPBD – Energy Performance of Buildings
European Commission, 2018: Energy performance of Buildings Directive
The latest draft of the EPBD, Energy Performance of Buildings, published in 2021 and currently undergoing approval, recognizes the construction sector as crucial for achieving the EU’s energy and environmental objectives.
To boost the energy performance of buildings, the EU has established a legislative framework that includes the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive, which promote policies that will help achieve a highly energy-efficient and decarbonized building stock by 2050. It specifies that by 2030, all new buildings must be zero-emission and their Global Warming Potential calculated in accordance with the Level(s) framework.
EUROPEAN UNION CLIMATE ACTION PAGE
European Commission, 2019: Climate change, what the EU is doing
The Council of the European Union has developed this informative and interactive summary designed to help citizens understand basic concepts such as the definition of climate neutrality, how the EU will transform climate objectives into legislation, and the price of climate change through videos and infographics.
Towards Embodied Carbon Benchmarks for Buildings in Europe
This graph is extracted from the report Towards Embodied Carbon Benchmarks for Buildings in Europe – Facing the data challenge, whose technical citation is as follows:
Röck M, Sørensen A, Steinmann J, Le Den X, Lynge K, Horup L H,, Tozan B, Birgisdottir H. Towards Embodied Carbon Benchmarks for Buildings in Europe – Facing the data challenge, 2022
This is a study prepared by Aalborg University in Denmark together with the consultancy Ramboll and funded by the Laudes Foundation, which addresses the problem of establishing reference lines for calculating and limiting emissions based on the study of carbon emission cases in buildings throughout their life cycle.
The study consists of a total of 4 parts and can be downloaded at the following link:
https://c.ramboll.com/lets-reduce-embodied-carbon
The study proposes a framework for assessing and monitoring embodied emissions at the building level and a recommended benchmarking process related to the carbon budgets of EU countries.
This report aims to provide fundamental guidance for policymakers and investors, and advocates for greater cooperation across the value chain to collect life cycle assessment data and set targets aligned with the Paris Agreement to support the decarbonization of the built environment.
EMISSION LIMITATION GRAPH IN DENMARK
Videncenter om Bygningers Klimapåvirkninger, 2022: LCA according to climate requirements
This publication from the Danish Knowledge Centre for Building Climate Impacts provides an introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) in construction, offering a good basis for working with climate requirements in practice and using calculation tools, as it is a requirement
in the building regulations for new construction in Denmark.
IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERED IN LCA IN DENMARK
Danish Transport and Construction Agency, 2016: Introduction to LCA of Buildings
The Danish Transport and Construction Agency has developed a highly informative introduction to Life Cycle Assessment, thanks to numerous infographics and graphs. It describes what LCA is about, what it can show about a building, what is needed to carry it out, and what are the most commonly used indicators to assess environmental impact and resource use.
THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL PYRAMID
The Construction Material Pyramid
The Construction Material Pyramid is a way to visualize the environmental impact associated with material production through an interactive tool that allows comparing CO2 footprints between different material categories or between material types within the same category. This project was developed in Denmark under the premise that everyone knows the food pyramid, so this parallel speaks to us about the relationship between our consumption and our health and that of the planet.
PROJECT: HOUSE IN SIERRA DE ORDAL
Finally, an explanation was provided about the House in Sierra de Ordal, an ecological, zero-consumption, low-impact house project that complies with strict health criteria. This dwelling prioritizes the use of exposed natural materials, which avoid the presence of toxins in finishes, such as compacted earth blocks for vertical walls and a CLT roof structure.
BOOK THE GOOD ANCESTOR, ROMAN KRZNARIC
Roman Krznaric is one of Britain’s most prominent contemporary philosophers. In his latest book, The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World, Krznaric discusses the concept of future invasion, in the sense that our generation is emitting emissions and polluting the planet at the expense of future generations who will unfairly find an overheated planet under threat to human survival.