Slow Studio in the 2024-2025 Selection of Sustainable Architecture Firms

The magazine CIC Architecture and Sustainability publishes insights from over 100 architecture firms in its Featured Selection of Sustainable Architecture Firms 2024-2025 What challenges does sustainable architecture face? issue, which includes Slow Studio.

While certainly not new, the debate surrounding Sustainability gains more traction every day from all perspectives and holistically permeates all areas of life. Beyond principles and values, building sustainably and responsibly has become a necessity, given the turning point we find ourselves at.

That is why CIC Architecture and Sustainability asked us: What challenges does sustainable architecture face? The aim was to summarize in their latest issue what sustainable architecture means to them and what path it should take. We share the full excerpt from Slow Studio.

What challenges does sustainable architecture face?

The regulation of zero-energy buildings has advanced, but the impact of building materials, whose manufacturing emits large amounts of carbon, has been ignored. “Embodied carbon” accounts for 11% of global emissions. The new European Union Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) now considers not only energy efficiency but also the calculation of global warming potential. From 2030 (2027 for public buildings), not only the energy consumption of buildings will be measured, but also their CO2 emissions per square meter.

Counting emissions is not equivalent to reducing them. Although the European Union will begin accounting for these emissions in 2030, an immediate and significant reduction is not expected, which makes it difficult to meet the Paris Agreement targets. Some countries, such as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, have already implemented stricter regulations on CO2 emissions in construction. Denmark, for example, has set strict limits that will be progressively reduced, aiming for a 50% decrease by the end of the decade. For the European Union to meet its climate goals, it is essential that all countries adopt similar and ambitious regulations.