Archinect - News

UN Secretary-General calls for significant changes to the cement industry ahead of 2050

2023-06-15T19:38:00-04:00

In an address to the Global Cement and Concrete Association in Zurich on Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres laid out his vision for changes to the industry he says are “fundamental to building a better world.”

Speaking to executives assembled in a “call to action,” Guterres asked for “concrete pledges from the concrete industry” before laying out his trifold ambits to ban coal-fired power in cement production, induce governments and industry to accelerate decarbonization efforts, and the furtherment of loftier emissions reduction targets and other plans in line with UN policy guidelines.

Seconding the Secretary's vision, the CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association, Thomas Guillot, added: “We applaud all the action our members are taking to implement carbon-cutting measures, and the latest data shows emissions are coming down. But many challenges remain, which we must overcome, if we are to achieve net zero, including enabling polices and regulations...

Aspen's new building codes are some of the strictest in Colorado

2023-01-31T11:14:00-05:00

The new building codes make 49 amendments to the International Building Code...will be the first time Aspen has set energy limits for every building in the city...The new regulations are not about affordable housing...Axelman does not expect the new regs will reduce the rumbling thrum of construction that is the soundtrack to Aspen.

Jason Blevins covers the recent news out Aspen regarding passing of Ordinance NO .01 (Series of 2023), pitched as key to achieving the city’s Climate Action Plan.

Scotland will mandate passive house standards for all new social housing starts by 2024

2022-12-29T09:00:00-05:00

New legislation aimed at enacting a countrywide mandate for the use of passive house design standards in all new housing developments is gaining traction in Scotland after Labour MSP Alex Rowley’s bill was endorsed by the national government earlier this month.

The new Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill will now be fast-tracked through secondary legislation in order to be fully enacted by the end of 2024, according to a letter sent to Rowley by Scotland’s Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings Patrick Harvie.

In a statement, the UK’s Passivhaus Trust said: “It is a truly forward-thinking approach by the Scottish government and a positive response to the 2021 Scottish Climate Assembly recommendations. They are to be applauded for taking this crucial step towards meeting their net zero/climate emergency goals. Now we must ensure that the bill is well developed and implemented to deliver the greatest impact on the actual performance of new homes in Scotland.”

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SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia NOW design at COP27

2022-11-08T17:53:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has revealed an update to its Urban Sequoia project it says can be built right now, during a presentation that took place today at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

SOM Partner Chris Cooper was on hand to make the presentation of his firm’s refined design for a carbon-sequestering building that can be used as a weapon in the fight against carbon emissions globally, three-quarters of which are generated from urban areas alone.

“We recognize the need to alter the trajectory of climate change by going beyond net zero,” Cooper said during the presentation. “We need to take carbon out of the atmosphere through the built environment, and we have developed a design to do just that.”

Image: © SOM | Miysis

Despite some considerably less-marketable obstacles to its effective implementation, the technology for carbon sequestering has come a long way in its development to offer itself as a plausible answer to the challenge posed by the need to a...

Foster + Partners unveils renderings for contested new JPMorgan Chase headquarters in Manhattan

2022-04-15T17:32:00-04:00

Four years after the project’s initial announcement, Foster + Partners has finally revealed designs for JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters in Manhattan.

At 60 stories, the 1,388-foot-tall tower will be the largest such development in the city and promises to feature an array of high-tech building systems with space for up to 14,000 employees in what is billed as a renaissance of traditional offices under the new Midtown East rezoning plan.

Announcing the new design, Norman Foster said the building would rise “to the challenge of respecting the rhythm and distinctive streetscape of Park Avenue, while accommodating the vital transport infrastructure of the city below.” He added: “The result is an elegant solution where the architecture is the structure, and the structure is the architecture, embracing a new vision that will serve JPMorgan Chase now and well into the future.”

The controversial project is part o...

More than half of UK architects have not worked on net-zero projects in the past year

2022-04-04T13:42:00-04:00

A surprising number of new British construction projects are not in line with the country’s supposedly stringent sustainability mandates, according to a new industry poll published by the product information platform NBS.

The survey revealed that just 14% of respondents worked on projects that always had pre-set sustainability goals, although a total of 69% said they had worked on projects with such guidelines at least “some of the time.” Only 4% reported working on net-zero projects exclusively.

A total of 52% of those surveyed said the main culprit was a lack of client demand. Costs and an overall dearth of government regulation were also blamed. Paradoxically, 97% of respondents said sustainability was important to them personally.

Image from the 2022 Sustainable Futures Survey, courtesy NBS.

Christian Dimbleby, chair of the Climate Action Team for a group called Architype, told AJ he found the results to be a “depressing reading,” that “illustrates quite powerfully that the indu...