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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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Storeys
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... View full entry
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has announced an ambitious new city-wide plan that would eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new developments and major renovations in an effort to take "every possible step to climate action." If passed, the Home Rule Petition to the state’s new Bill H.5060 would make... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — Bloomberg
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... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects has officially ushered in what it says will become a “new benchmark for future workplaces” in the form of a brand new high-tech headquarters for the sustainably-minded BEEAH Group in Sharjah, UAE. Echoing the surrounding desert landscape, the design incorporates two... View full entry
Energiesprong (which translates to “energy jump”), a nonprofit that the Dutch government helped launch a decade ago, is coordinating a system of mass retrofits. “We thought, okay, let’s make home retrofits into a scalable solution,” says Christian Richter, who works in the organization’s market development team in Germany. — Fast Company
The Netherlands has pursued an aggressive agenda which has meant a spate of net-zero residential conversions. Now groups are looking for ways to apply lessons from the program outside the country in the hopes of matching increased demands with advancements that have produced certain types of... View full entry
The puck has dropped on the home debut of the NHL’s newest franchise. Seattle’s Kraken professional hockey team is settling into its new digs after the Populous-designed Climate Pledge Arena officially opened on Friday in the Emerald City. The 17,400-seat arena is the risen corpse of the... View full entry
In advance of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021, the UK Green Building Council has announced 17 sustainable projects to be displayed in an online exhibition. The exhibition, titled Build Better Now, will take place in virtual reality, and... View full entry
Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, is getting a brilliant new biophilic airport terminal courtesy of CallisonRTKL. The 1.2-million-square-foot Terminal 2 expansion project promises a stress-relieving, traveler-friendly design and is also aiming to become one of the only net-zero airport... View full entry
The World Green Building Council (WGBC) has published its Advancing Net Zero Status Report 2021, offering an overview of the construction sector’s progress towards decarbonization throughout the last twelve months. Available to read and download here for free, the 48-page report offers detail on... View full entry
MIT has announced a goal of achieving net-zero emissions from their campus by 2026, and eliminating direct emissions by 2050. The goal is one of a number of initiatives announced under the institution’s new plan titled “Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade,” aimed at... View full entry
At the rate we’re going, I fully expect, Zero Energy Ready Homes to become the norm by 2030, when tens of thousands of homes are certified each year or constructed under codes representing zero energy performance — CodeWatcher
Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd talked with Sam Rashkin, chief architect of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office, about the building blocks for achieving Zero Energy Ready Home certification, as well as the current and future state of adoption. To learn more check out the... View full entry
