Archinect - News

Is it time to ban all-glass skyscrapers?

2019-07-31T19:02:00-04:00

“If you’re building a greenhouse in a climate emergency, it’s a pretty odd thing to do to say the least,” said Simon Sturgis, an adviser to the government and the Greater London Authority, as well as chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects sustainability group. “If you’re using standard glass facades you need a lot of energy to cool them down, and using a lot of energy equates to a lot of carbon emissions.”

As the global community continues to mobilize against the rising threat of climate collapse, cities and other entities are moving toward banning or limiting the future development of all-glass skyscrapers due to the buildings' high energy demands, according to a report in The Guardian.

For decades, designers have relied on technological approaches like double- and triple-glazing facade units to maximize the energy performance of these designs, but as the limited lifespan of these systems comes under question, it has become clear that more drastic efforts are needed.

Simon Sturgis, chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects sustainability group, told The Guardian, “To mitigate the amount of energy used to cool these buildings, you have to produce a really complicated façade, which is usually triple glazed.”

Sturgis added, “But double glazed units and laminated glass don’t last very long – 40 years or so. So you have to replace your facade every 40 years, that’s also not...

Last year was the warmest since (at least) 1880

2016-01-20T13:32:00-05:00

Last year was the Earth's warmest since record-keeping began in 1880, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA said Wednesday. It's been clear for quite some time that 2015 would steal the distinction of the hottest year from 2014, with 10 out of the 12 months last year being the warmest respective months on record -- and those records go back 136 years.

The news that 2015 was the warmest year on record didn't exactly take climate scientist by surprise. But what is startling is by just how much: the average global temperature was 1.62˚F above the 20th century average.

December, in particular, reached new heights of heat, becoming the first month to ever exceed temperature averages by 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to reports, El Niño played a significant role in bringing up temperatures. It's still bearing down on the Western US right now – although not yet dumping enough precipitation to rescue California from its historic drought.

In other weather news, the East Coast is about to receive some heavy snow. Early predictions suggest this could be one of the biggest snowstorms in history.

While unusual and severe weather events comprise perhaps the most visible – and dangerous – effects of global climate change, they have been frequently co-opted by certain American politicians in the last few years to deny the reality of anthropogenic g...

The climate is getting hotter, and we're not doing nearly enough

2015-10-07T20:27:00-04:00

To stand a fair chance of keeping warming to just 2°C by the end of the century—the de-facto goal of global climate policy—the stock of atmospheric carbon dioxide must be kept under 1 trillion tonnes ... If emissions continue on their present course around 140 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases will be released each year and temperatures could rise by 4.5°C by 2100. And even if countries fully honour their recent pledges, temperatures may still increase by 3.5°C by then.

In the article, the author lays out an argument that "when negotiators meet in Paris, they need to keep in mind that the world is already suffering from the effects of global warming." At the crux of it lies the fact that the current, so-called "ambitious" plans of the world's largest economies, like the US and China, still fall short of what's needed.