Archinect - News

Is carbon offsetting a misleading tool of the building industry?

2022-05-16T15:16:00-04:00

Six months after the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, columnist Kunle Barker wrote in the UK Architects' Journal to take a stand against the industry’s oneiric focus on “lofty ideals of zero-carbon and on soundbites” and towards a more considered system of new project evaluation, advocating for the “need to develop a viability methodology that is independent, objective and focused on carbon impact versus social need.”

“Let’s rid ourselves of these conceited phrases and instead focus on the real issues,” he wrote, arguing that need will always push architects into costly demolition efforts and away from restoring structures that may, in many cases, be better suited for adaptive reuse. “Offsetting is not sustainable. In fact, it's not even close to being sustainable, and most worrying of all, it is allowing lazy, ego-driven designs to be accepted by us all. We must find an objective and fair way to assess if (and how) a building should be constructed. This is the only way the built en...

Can the architecture industry deliver a carbon-neutral building revolution?

2022-04-15T18:40:00-04:00

There’s ever-growing panoply of efficiency measures — better insulation, improved heating and air-conditioning, less-polluting appliances — that could help the building sector rapidly decarbonize. By 2030, almost all new buildings could consume zero net energy — net meaning there’s some give and take from the grid to equal zero use. That’s a big deal, especially with a corollary switch to electrified forms of transportation.

The list of new green technologies is long and includes innovations like low-carbon concrete, cross-laminated timber, and living wall systems that have all developed into scalable products over the past ten years.

So far, big-name firms like Gensler, Lake|Flato, and KieranTimberlake have been among their many evangalizers, with high-profile projects like the White Arkitekter-designed Sara Cultural Centre, Arup's recently completed HAUT residential building, or the Sonoma Academy Janet Durgin Guild & Commons by WRNS Studio serving as the new standard-bearers in an industry seemingly reluctant to adopt its own rhetoric as to the need for systematic change.

The residential sector is another key area of focus if the 2030 ambit mentioned above is to ever truly become a reality. There is quite a bit of reason for hope in this area, too, with more and more governments providing fundin...

New study links higher BIM use with client satisfaction

2021-10-22T18:18:00-04:00

A new study published by Dodge Data & Analytics, in partnership with Autodesk, has concluded that stronger BIM use on architectural projects results in higher client satisfaction. The findings, set out in the free Accelerating Digital Transformation Through BIM SmartMarket Report, offers an overview of how architects, engineers, and contractors use BIM and its associated workflows.

The report’s central finding is a “correlation between the depth of engagement with data-driven BIM processes, the intensity of BIM, and the degree to which the benefits of using BIM are experienced.” In other words, the report suggests that the higher the use of BIM on a project, and the more a project team exploits BIM’s various processes and workflows, the higher the reward.

According to the report, these benefits include improved client satisfaction and design qua...

DesignIntelligence Hosts a Global Webinar Where Industry Leaders Discuss Lessons Learned After Times of Crisis

2021-05-17T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by DesignIntelligence

DesignIntelligence interacts with thousands of built environment professionals and academics each month through its publications, events, research, and advisory services. As we stride forward emerging from the global pandemic, we are intent on articulating transformative understanding gleaned from the many months of introspective isolation and wholly new patterns of interaction.

On June 10th, DesignIntelligence will host a Global SuperCast webinar where we will be hearing from leading voices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, European Union, Middle East, and China about the lessons learned from the pandemic and the permanent changes that will be adopted in a post-pandemic world. The line-up of speakers includes:

Simon Allford, RIBA President-Elect
Mohammed Barakat, Managing Director, U.S.-Qatar Business Council
James Calder, Global Director, ERA-co
Areti Markopoulou, Architect/Academic Director at IAAC / StudioP52 Founder...

In weaker market, architecture firms in China are cutting back

2015-08-11T13:31:00-04:00

After a boom in construction and investment in real estate projects in recent years, work is drying up amid a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. Property developers are cutting back on new projects, and with construction starts down 16% in the first half this year from a year ago, many firms are cutting salaries or letting staff go. [...] “We are adjusting to a slower pace of urbanization in China with a recovery of the American and Middle East markets”

More from the architecture market in China: