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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
Citing the climate crisis, the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to ban most gas appliances in new construction, a policy that’s expected to result in new homes and businesses coming equipped with electric stoves, clothes dryers, water heaters and furnaces.
The nation’s second-largest city was late to the game, said Councilmember Nithya Raman, the policy’s lead author — but no longer.
— The Los Angeles Times
Raman’s motion echoes that of many other cities in the state as well as a recent proposal to phase out non-electric car sales by the year 2035. It also includes a provision that all newly-constructed buildings be emissions-free, a requirement it first adopted for all municipal properties in... View full entry
The Los Angeles City Council have passed a motion instructing several city departments to begin work on a framework that would require all new residential and commercial buildings in the city to be built to achieve zero-carbon emissions. Passed on May 27th, the motion may see a roadmap to... View full entry
Research undertaken by NASA has found that rooftop gardens can offer substantial temperature reductions in cities during summer months. In a study published in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society, the group used satellite imagery to measure temperatures at three rooftop gardens in Chicago... View full entry
Last week, we reported on Barcelona’s mission to build a digital twin of the entire city on a supercomputer housed in a 19th century chapel. Speaking to Politco about the potential for the data-driven replica to aid Barcelona's urban development, the city’s Deputy Mayor noted: "We are in an... View full entry
Harvard University has today announced its first-ever cohort for the brand new Climate Justice Design Fellowship, recognizing young leaders across the country in the fields of environmental justice advocacy, law, and climate organizing. The first class of fellows consists of seven... View full entry
Wildfires are becoming an increasing threat to American homeowners with the acceleration of climate change, and now a new tool from the nonprofit First Street Foundation will allow them to access probability-based data about the potential risk their property may face over the next 30 years. ... View full entry
Earlier this week, we covered comments by columnist Kunle Barker in the UK’s Architects’ Journal, who warned against the trend of offsetting emissions to achieve a “zero carbon” built environment. “Offsetting is not sustainable,” Barker wrote. “In fact, it's not even close to being... 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
A new draft plan by the California Air Resources Board was released on Tuesday that lays out an ambitious roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality in the state by 2045. Called the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan, the guide highlights the necessity for a comprehensive shift away from fossil... View full entry
eVolo Magazine has revealed the 2022 winners of their annual Skyscraper Competition. Chosen from a pool of 427 projects, the three winners and twenty honorable mentions offer visionary ideas for the future of vertical architecture, shaped by novel approaches to technology, materials, function, and... View full entry
Oki, a qualified architect at global construction company Mace, has been chosen by an informal collective of early-career architects, students and architectural activists keen to shake-up the institute and move it beyond ‘empty slogans and self-serving initiatives’. — Architect's Journal
The campaigning collective behind Muyiwa Oki’s nomination includes grassroots organization Future Architects Front (FAF), past and current RIBA Council members, and RIBA’s Future Architects members. As previously reported by Archinect, the group announced in March its intentions to put... View full entry
To coincide with the recent Earth Day celebrations, the Chicago Architecture Center has opened up its archives for a look inside the revolution that could restore the city, traditionally thought to be a mecca for the seminal works of 19th- and 20th-century architectural pioneers, to the top... View full entry
The Biden administration on April 19 restored key regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires review of federal projects to assess their likely impacts on climate change and nearby communities. The changes to the NEPA rules will go into effect in late May, and could mean proposed infrastructure like highways, pipelines and railways take more time to get approved. — Construction Dive
This move reverses changes made by the Trump administration, which loosened the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2020 in order to accelerate projects by shortening the time used to gather environmental information and community input. According to Construction Dive, construction... View full entry
Further details have been revealed for the design of OCEANIX Busan, described as the “world’s first sustainable floating city.” Designed by lead architects BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and SAMOO (Samsung), the project will be constructed in the South Korean city of Busan by advanced maritime... View full entry
