Archinect - News

Federal Green Proving Ground program secures $9.6 million to test emerging building technologies

2024-07-24T13:08:00-04:00

Last week marked the announcement of the U.S. General Services Administration’s collaborative Green Proving Ground program with the Department of Energy. The initiative is aimed at producing “real world” evaluations of 17 different emerging technologies that may have a considerable impact on the future of the building industry and architectural design. Funding for the GSA’s latest $9.6 million investment comes from the Inflation Reduction Act.

This year’s program focuses on the following areas: building envelopes and enclosures, healthy and resilient buildings, HVAC systems for commercial buildings, and on-site renewables. The group being evaluated includes everything from heat pumps to geothermal retrofitting solutions and energy-saving ceiling tiles. Select testing will occur at the GSA's Applied Innovation Learning Labs with the first evaluations becoming available in 2026.

The GSA hopes this will ensure a transition to a net-zero emissions federal building portfolio by 2045. On...

TenBerke and Ballinger design Yale's new quantum science center as a series of interconnected pavilions

2024-07-18T16:37:00-04:00

TenBerke, in collaboration with Ballinger, has revealed designs for a new center for quantum science, engineering, and materials initiatives at Yale University. Called the Upper Science Hill Development (USHD), the 611,000-square-foot complex will be one of Yale’s largest and most complex building projects ever undertaken.

Located in the Science Hill precinct, the complex will add a publicly accessible series of landscape spaces to foster pedestrian and cyclist circulation on the campus.

The structure is designed to fit the topography of its urban and natural surroundings. As detailed by the architects, vibration control is one of the primary design drivers for quantum science facilities. Therefore, USHD’s sloping site, which is close to bedrock, was chosen for its strong vibration stability.

Image: TenBerke

The complex is conceived as a series of interconnected pavilions that move upwards. The building houses a network of overlapping hubs, organized by research initiatives. Its faça...

Biden-Harris administration defines future of zero emissions buildings

2024-02-09T11:41:00-05:00

In a landmark initiative, the Biden-Harris Administration has released the draft National Definition for a Zero Emissions Building, setting a transformative standard for the construction sector. This comprehensive definition targets all new buildings not owned by the federal government, stipulating that they must achieve high energy efficiency (in the 75th percentile or above), eliminate on-site emissions, and be powered by clean energy sources.

This move is part of a broader effort to mitigate climate change impacts by ensuring that the future of construction aligns with environmental sustainability goals. The definition is poised to serve as a critical framework for both new constructions and existing buildings, aiming for a measurable reduction in operating emissions across the board.

Previously on Archinect: AEC firms sign on to Biden Administration’s definition of zero-emissions buildings

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has expressed strong support for this initiative...

British AEC groups urge government action on embodied carbon regulations

2024-01-31T19:21:00-05:00

A group of 11 AEC industry groups in the United Kingdom, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Chartered Institute of Building, and UK Green Building Council, have joined together in urging the government toward taking action on restricting embodied carbon emissions in the built environment ahead of an important national election that’s expected for November.

Their call endorses an amalgam of existing policy pushes while espousing lawmakers to include at least a portion of its findings into their respective manifestos with benchmarks for specific mandates and enforcements set for the end of this year, 2026, and 2028, respectively.

RIBA President Muyiwa Oki said: “Our message is clear — embodied carbon regulation is critical to reaching net zero. As built environment professionals, we understand our duty to reduce emissions and have been leading the charge. We now need urgent action from the next government to deliver a greener future that we deserve.”

Related ...

AEC firms sign on to Biden Administration’s definition of zero-emissions buildings

2024-01-19T12:53:00-05:00

An effort by the Biden Administration to establish a new national definition of zero-emissions buildings is gaining traction after leaders representing a group of 69 different AEC firms working in the U.S. added their support in a letter that was circulated earlier this week.

Prominent architecture firms, including SOM, NBBJ, Payette, Lake|Flato, Curtis + Ginsberg, DIALOG, FXCollaborative, Handel, and EskewDumezRipple, were among the architecture firms whose principals signed on to the pledge. The signature drive was initiated by Maine-based studio OPAL in coordination with the Building Green Sustainability Leader Peer Networks.

Under the proposed new standards, a “net zero emissions building” would obtain “high” (e.g., the 75th percentile) energy efficiency ratings, be free of any on-site emissions, and be powered purely by clean energy sources. Existing buildings will require an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higher or a measured whole building energy use intensity (or EUI) of at lea...

Former Lakers favorite Rick Fox now has carbon-neutral concrete company aimed at building change

2024-01-05T18:36:00-05:00

His pitch is pretty straightforward. In a world where companies—including construction companies and their clients—are trying to gloss their climate credentials, and where countries have made commitments to hit carbon reduction targets, why wouldn’t you shift wholesale to carbon-neutral concrete? The answer, Fox says, is simply inertia. “Why would they change what’s working for them? They’ve been burning rocks for 200 years.”

The company Fox co-founded with an architect named Sam Marshall, Partanna, has been active since 2018 in using its product, which was developed with the help of materials science researchers using a mixture of brine taken from desalination plants and slag. Arizona State University's Dwarak Ravikumar says an outside review of the data that pertains to its environmental footprints and scalability is needed, according to another recent profile in The Verge.

Still, Fox's ambits are admirable for someone of his position and fame. He says Partanna has a plan to construct one thousand homes in the country. Their product can also be used in coral reef development. "The business plans to build and operate facilities around the world, initially in key territories where it has long-term offtake agreements with customers, including The Bahamas, the Middle East, and the United States," their website reads.

Additional details about the year-old operation can be found here.

...

Large increase in all-electric and net-zero energy projects among AIA 2030 Commitment signatories, report says

2023-09-29T11:43:00-04:00

All-electric building projects have increased by more than 130% since 2020, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects. The figure is one of several findings from the latest AIA By The Numbers report which provides a detailed analysis of the energy performance of architecture and design firm signatories to the AIA 2030 Commitment.

428 companies reported data as part of the survey, with 23,276 projects reported from 107 countries. In addition, 168 new firms signed the 2030 Commitment in 2022, bringing the total number of signatories to over 1,200. By contrast, the community held 170 signatories and 56 reporting firms in 2010.

Related on Archinect: AIA 2030 signatories making progress on commitment to reduce energy use. Image credit: Mike Schwartz

In the latest outline, firms reported 707 all-electric buildings last year, totaling 80.1 million ground square feet, representing a 134% increase on projects registered in 2020. 346 net-zero energy projects were reported...

PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino reopens Brooklyn's most iconic building to the modern workplace

2023-09-27T15:25:00-04:00

A landmark era of high-profile additions and architectural changes to the historic Brooklyn waterfront has ushered in a new chapter with today’s official public unveiling of the PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino office component at the 11-acre former Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg.

The new, 15-story glass commercial space was constructed inside the building’s old brick masonry shell, offering tenants 460,000 square feet of Class A office space enhanced by carefully-inserted biophilic elements and marked by the firm’s attenuation to ascendant health and wellness considerations typical in modern workplace design.

Photo: Max Touhey

A 12-foot gap left between the new and old structures provides space for Field Operations’s 17-count in-house arboretum while standardizing a misalignment with the floors and helping to flood the bonetti/kozerski-designed office interiors with natural light and expanded access to vegetation throughout the day.

Photo: Max Touhey

A vaulted 27,000-s...

3XN GXN and British Land share new transformation project of London's Euston Tower

2023-07-13T13:57:00-04:00

3XN GXN, alongside property development company British Land, has announced that they are leading the redevelopment of London’s Euston Tower. Built in 1970, the commercial high-rise was viewed as a cutting-edge office space. However, changing tenancy needs have seen a gradual reduction in its inhabitants, leading to the building’s vacancy in 2021.

The aim for the renewed Euston Tower is to transform it into a pioneering, welcoming, net-zero workspace in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. The project falls in line with the sustainability goals and expertise of British Land, the Greater London Authority and Borough of Camden, and 3XN GXN. As noted in a release, the joint vision for the project sets out to lead the way in low-carbon retrofit and construction techniques, as well as using inclusive design to support the workspaces and local community.

Image courtesy of 3XN GXN.

As stated by 3XN Senior Partner Audun Opdal, “We are proud to work on this highly progressive project and...

Port Authority of NY & NJ reaches milestone with new low-carbon concrete standards

2023-06-29T14:09:00-04:00

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced earlier this month that it has reached a major milestone in one of the most ambitious low-carbon concrete programs of its kind among U.S. transportation agencies.

Originally introduced in September 2020, the Clean Construction Program aims to reduce embodied carbon, promote the circular economy, and reduce air pollution from construction across all of the Authority’s projects through a range of initiatives. They include the incorporation of LEED and Envision-equivalent standards, utilizing low-carbon concrete, collecting environmental data from contractors, facilitating pilot projects, waste matching for concrete, asphalt, and soil, and requiring low-emissions vehicles on site.

The agency took a major step forward by significantly strengthening its requirements to use sustainable concrete mixes in all future construction projects as part of its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Related on Archinect: UN Secr...

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...

Toronto builders set their sights on (near) net-zero buildings by 2030

2023-05-04T15:24:00-04:00

Toronto builders have a challenging task ahead of them, and with a rapidly approaching deadline: constructing all new buildings with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

This goal falls under Toronto’s TransformTO Net Zero Strategy initiative, which aims to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in the city to net zero by 2040. The building mandate targets the sizable portion of carbon emissions that buildings account for. As reported by Storeys, data from The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) on carbon emissions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) found that the building sector accounts for 44% of all emissions in the region.

One Canadian construction company, EllisDon, has reportedly been exploring ways to contribute to meeting these sustainability goals. With a large amount of building emissions originating from materials used within the construction process, the company began working with building and material sciences specialists. One shift includes altering cement usage by implementing alternative materials, nam...

Mass timber pedestrian bridge rises at Toronto's George Brown College

2023-04-28T14:26:00-04:00

Canadian construction company PCL Construction is celebrating a major milestone in the construction of George Brown College’s new Limberlost Place on Toronto’s waterfront, with the installation of a mass timber pedestrian bridge.

Standing 65 feet above street level, the structure connects level five of Limberlost Place to level six of the college’s Daphne Cockwell Center for Health Sciences. The 10-story Limberlost Place is reportedly set to be the first mass timber, net-zero carbon emissions institutional building of its kind in Ontario. It was designed by a team consisting of Moriyama and Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects. The building is expected to be completed by 2024 and will be open for classes in January 2025.

Video via PCL Construction on YouTube

The pedestrian bridge stretches approximately 70 feet and is made up of two glue-laminated trusses and four cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. Individual CLT pieces were prefabricated at an off-site location befor...

Inside Yale's new Center for Architecture and Ecosystems

2023-02-06T14:04:00-05:00

The center’s main objectives are to research, develop and test novel building-integrated systems for on-site energy generation, air cleaning, water purification and food growing [...] the CEA is a 'consortium that unites researchers in the R&D of novel building research,' bringing together the resources of multiple departments on campus.

The four-year-old Center for Architecture and Ecosystems (CEA) was founded as a collaboration between Yale School of Architecture, the School of Environment, and four other colleges. The Center has thus far conducted prototyping projects in Guatemala and South Africa and will, in the future, leverage collaborations with Rice, Cornell, the University of Arizona, and other institutions in further pursuit of its ambitious research and development aims.

“A major goal of CEA is to develop new systems to reach net zero,” the Center's founding director Anna Dyson said to the Yale Daily News. “We want to build environmental systems that are not going to stress the planet’s ecosystems.”

The CEA is in the process of moving into its own space on Howe Street in New Haven and is currently undergoing renovation.

Montgomery Sisam design net-zero timber research center for University of Toronto

2023-02-02T12:05:00-05:00

Toronto-based Montgomery Sisam Architects has unveiled their design for the overhaul of the University of Toronto’s Koffler Scientific Reserve. Situated in a rural site in King Township north of the city, the new campus is intended to accommodate research students and faculty for extended periods of time as they study ecology and environmental biology.

Image credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects

The existing site, stitched together over the course of a hundred years, features an estate house, small farms, and a blend of woodlands, watercourses, and fish lakes. In response to the current lack of housing, teaching, and dining spaces at the KSR, the new scheme includes a purpose-built Dining and Operations Center, as well as twenty accommodation cabins.

Image credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects

Montgomery Sisam’s design approach revolved around their interpretation of KSR’s work, where minor changes in specific plants can yield broader narratives about global issues such as climate change....

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...

AIA 2030 signatories making progress on commitment to reduce energy use

2022-10-10T12:08:00-04:00

2021 saw a 67% annual increase in the number of all-electric buildings delivered in the United States by AIA 2030 Commitment signatories, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects. The findings are contained within the AIA 2030 Commitment By the Numbers report, which the institute has recently published to demonstrate the industry’s progress towards carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.

The key metrics used by the AIA to analyze the sector’s progress all trended positively for 2021 versus 2020, though some more than others. There was a 10% increase in the number of firms submitting project data as part of the commitment, with 20,652 projects reported by 417 firms. 276 of these buildings were net-zero, while 505 were all-electric.

5.5% of whole-building gross square footage reported in 2021 (representing 748 projects) met the target of reducing f...

Federal Buy Clean task force issues first recommendations for low-carbon construction materials

2022-09-21T12:29:00-04:00

The Biden Administration has unveiled the first set of recommendations under its Federal Buy Clean Initiative, an undertaking that aims to drive the development of American-made, low-carbon construction materials, while also supporting job growth.

During a visit to the Cleveland-Cliffs Direct Reduction steel plant in Toledo, Ohio, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, U.S. General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan, and Deputy National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi announced that the federal government will prioritize the purchase of green construction materials, which will encompass 98% of materials purchased by the government.

The Federal Buy Clean Initiative is a part of President Biden’s economic plan, which includes the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Law, the $485 billion Inflation Reduction Act, and the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act. As detailed by the White House, the federal government is the largest direct purchaser of construction materials in the world...

The Line, the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, looks like a total fantasy

2022-07-29T08:30:00-04:00

A clearer picture of Saudi Arabia’s mind-blowing NEOM megaproject is coming together after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s office unveiled plans for an elevated 170-kilometer (105 miles) long linear city called The Line that he says will eventually house more than 9 million people.

According to the Saudi government, The Line will “embody how urban communities will be in the future in an environment free from roads, cars, and emissions.” It is designed to run 100% on renewables and prioritize individual health and well-being while helping the state preserve some 95% of NEOM’s total existing land. The development will be confined to a 34-square-kilometer (13.1-square-mile) footprint to reduce infrastructure encroachment into nature.

Image courtesy of NEOM

The Line comes complete with a high-speed rail system capable of transporting riders from end to end in the development within 20 minutes. The rest of the habitation’s layout will be based on the principles of a concept called "Zer...

U.S. Department of Energy grants $39 million to projects developing carbon-storing buildings

2022-07-21T19:01:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $39 million to 18 projects dedicated to developing technologies that can transform buildings into net carbon storage structures.

The initiative titled the Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) program is being led by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

The awardees will use the funding to develop alternative building materials and construction techniques. The decarbonization goals for the program align with President Biden’s plan to reach zero emissions by 2050, aiming to increase the total amount of carbon stored in buildings to create carbon sinks.

“This is a unique opportunity for researchers to advance clean energy materials to tackle one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors that is responsible for roughly 10% of total annual emissions in the United States,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm remarked on the initiative.

The fiel...

Los Angeles the latest city to adopt digital twin technology to cut carbon emissions

2022-06-09T21:11:00-04:00

Cityzenith, a Chicago-based digital twin platform, announced last week that it is partnering with the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge to help construct a digital twin, or virtual replica, of a section of the city to help make its buildings more sustainable and reduce carbon emissions.

The project will initially center on the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood of Bunker Hill. Cityzenith’s SmartWorld digital twin product will be implemented to enable building owners to simulate their financial paths to net-zero emissions. This is part of Cityzenith’s "Clean Cities — Clean Future" initiative, which provides cities with a free digital twin in order to virtually test potential decarbonization efforts before implementing costly plans in the real world.

Previously on Archinect: Digital twin of downtown Las Vegas unveiled in effort to cut emissions

As noted by Melissa Goldin of Construction Dive, the Bunker Hill project will focus on data related to decarbonization efforts for a major public building and the surrounding area. Energy or building management systems, occupancy readings, and architectural information are among the variables that will be examined. The digital twin will have the potential to expand to cover the rest of the city and address other city planning i...

New standard for verifying UK buildings as net-zero carbon on the horizon

2022-06-01T17:02:00-04:00

A cross-industry coalition, representing stakeholders across the built environment, has come together to develop a standard for verifying buildings in the UK as net-zero carbon.

Called the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, it provides a single, agreed methodology for proving built assets are net-zero carbon and in line with the UK’s climate targets. The leading industry organizations behind this initiative include BBP, BRE, the Carbon Trust, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC.

The metrics used to evaluate net-zero carbon performance will include energy use, upfront embodied carbon, and lifecycle embodied carbon, along with space heating/cooling demand and peak load. The Standard will cover both new and existing buildings with performance targets that align with Britain’s 2035 emissions target to reduce by 78% and its 2050 net-zero target. It will also cover the procurement of renewable energy and the treatment of residual emissions, including carbon offsetting. The ...

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...

Australia is pushing for wood construction with $214 million Timber Building Program

2022-02-08T14:54:00-05:00

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), an organization responsible for investing $10 billion in clean energy projects on behalf of the Australian government, is seeking to substantially cut construction-related emissions with a new $214 million program to encourage the use of mass timber in new building projects.

Called the Timber Building Program, the initiative is based on the need to transform building practices in order to achieve an economy-wide transition to net-zero emissions. The money will be available in debt financing for eligible projects across Australia, including commercial offices, retail, industrial, healthcare, and education undertakings. Finance may also be available for multi-residential apartments, senior living, and student accommodation projects.

Eligible projects will be considered on a case-by-case basis and may include those that follow the following criteria:

Use low-carbon engineered wood products in large-scale construction
Have secured appropria...

Ontario's first mass timber higher education building is taking shape at Centennial College in Toronto

2022-01-10T14:04:00-05:00

The first mass timber academic building in Ontario is taking shape at Toronto’s Centennial College. Located at the college’s Progress Campus in Scarborough, the A-Block Expansion Building will have the potential to be the province's first net-zero carbon, mass timber, LEED Gold higher education facility when completed in 2023.

Image: Dialog

First unveiled in February 2020, the $82 million building was designed by Canadian architecture firm Dialog, in collaboration with Smoke Architecture, and EllisDon as contractor. The design for the expansion was based on the Indigenous concept of “two-eyed seeing,” in which people view the world through an Indigenous lens with one eye or perspective, while the other eye sees through a Western lens. The new campus building aims to embody the college’s commitment to truth and reconciliation, Indigenous education, and sustainable design.

Image: Dialog

“The two perspectives amplified each other,” said Craig Applegath, Principal-in-Charge at DIALOG. “F...

The first phase of New York City's first net zero community has been set in motion

2022-01-03T12:55:00-05:00

In December, developers closed on $30.3 million in financing for the first phase of Arverne East, a master-planned community and revitalization project within a 116-acre oceanfront site in the Arverne and Edgemere neighborhoods in Queens’ Rockaway Peninsula. Led by real estate firms L+M Development Partners, the Bluestone Organization, and Triangle Equities, the project will be New York City’s first net zero community.

Funding for the first phase was provided by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). This stage will see the development of a 35-acre nature preserve between Beach 44th Street and Beach 56th Place, aiming to restore and promote native ecology. It will include a 6,000-square-foot, fossil-free building featuring a welcome center, park ranger office, comfort station, and a community center owned and operated by RISE, a non-profit organization that provides civic engagement and youth development programs for the greater Rockaway communit...

Here is what happened in Glasgow after the underwhelming conclusion of COP26

2021-11-15T14:38:00-05:00

The ending of this year’s COP26 conference has left many architects to ponder how effective the mostly non-representative group of negotiators were in addressing the skepticism and high expectations coming into the meeting that is meant to address what is undoubtedly the greatest moral issue of our time.

The conference concluded on Saturday with a resounding sense of discord, despite a historic pact signed by 197 countries to close the conference. Here’s a look at some of the highlights and tangible changes that came out of the two-week meeting in Glasgow.

Coal

Coal was the biggest hangup at the conference by far, with the final language of the deal constituting what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared a “death knell” for the industry. Although more than 40 countries agreed to end their own domestic production of coal, India, with help from China and Iran, singularly stalled the pact until an 11th-hour deal changed the text from “phase out” to the more ambiguous “phase dow...

2022 is set to be a record year for wind and solar deployments

2021-11-11T08:30:00-05:00

U.S. solar and wind deployments are on track to hit new records in 2022 as momentum behind the energy transition grows, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The firm forecasts that as much as 44 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and 27 gigawatts of wind will come online next year. For solar, this is nearly double 2021’s estimated 23 gigawatts of new capacity. As reported by CNBC, the factors behind this upswing include the expansion of state-level renewable requirements and the expected extension of tax credits for the industry. The growth can also be attributed to an increase in demand from corporations, as shifting to renewable power is “typically one of the first and easiest steps” for companies looking to cut emissions.

Energy storage, which is key for wind and solar, is also growing, with S&P projecting the installation of 8 gigawatts of storage in 2022. This is six times higher than the prior record from 2020.

These record-setting projections align with the Biden administration’s goal of having a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and ultimately achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The National Building Museum prepares to launch its Climate ABC programs

2021-10-29T17:51:00-04:00

The National Building Museum has announced the upcoming launch of its new program series, Climate ABC (Action/Building/Community). Commencing on November 16, the series will offer programs designed to both educate the public about climate action and to push for significant solutions in the building industries to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

As stated in The National Building Museum’s announcement: “The series will focus on three essential aspects to addressing climate change: Actions by individuals, businesses, nonprofits, policy makers, and civic entities; examples of Building, both physical structures and landscapes, as well as coalitions of stakeholders; and Communities at every scale that are working to reduce carbon emissions.”

The series will highlight innovative new technologies and best practices from around the world that are accelerating climate solutions. Offered live online, the programs will address topics that can positively influence climate change, includ...