admin Theaccelerating pace of the global climate change has affected millions across the world. Its efficacy continues to be felt by people globally. The inaction of the global governance against the destruction of our habitat is staggering. However, in the recent years, a number of initiatives have been ideated to reverse the ill-effects of the global climate change process.
Architecture plays an important role in trying to salvage our natural world. Its role in creating sustainable projects that are shaped with an adept sense of environmental consciousness and responsibility will prove to be crucial in our fight against the mounting carbon emissions. Architects have a niche part to perform in the course of this battle. We have highlighted a few ways in which architects can help create greener edifices and reduce the carbon footprint of existing structures:
- Recycling ‘Waste Building Materials’
Reusing building materials is a cost-effective strategy to help reduce waste and lower greenhouse emissions. The demolition of existing structures at the construction site produces thousands of tons of ‘waste’ building materials that are subsequently dumped at the various landfills across cities. However, if architects realign their vision, these same buildings can be evaluated as ‘material banks’ that store tons of raw materials for future constructions. Salvaging the ‘waste materials’ from these sites can help considerably reduce the burden on the environment and its scarce resources.
- Slashing the Carbon Footprint with Carbon-Smart Materials
Selecting carbon-smart materials is a crucial step towards building a green planet. The carbon content of the building material used to construct an edifice is known as the building’s embodied carbon. Endeavoring to reduce this carbon footprint translates to deflecting from the use of concrete, steel, foam, and aluminum as these materials are the highest-emitting substances. The rapidly amplifying climate crisis has necessitated the use of such building materials that effectively diminish the carbon footprints produced. Architects now have the added responsibility to ideate architectural creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also environmentally responsible.
- Sustainable Designs with Biodegradable Raw Materials
Architects have the ability to change and tweak the vision of their clients by gently guiding them in the direction of environment-friendly designs and outlays. They can convince potential clients to opt for biodegradable building materials that offer the same efficacy and quality as the conventional, environmentally-injurious ones. Using bamboo, cork, and other such materials can significantly lower carbon emissions. Architects can also substitute the use of traditionally produced bricks for organically curated bricks that are made with a special material called mycelium. This vegetative part of a fungus is constituted of thousands of interwoven fibers. It can be combined with farm wastes to produce organic bricks. This green process of manufacturing bricks will inevitably slash carbon footprints to a large degree.
- Changing the Frame Material of Buildings
Transitioning from concrete frames to the use of structural timber can help combat several environmental concerns. Architects can opt for timber instead of concrete to lower the carbon footprints of new and old structures. The production of concrete releases a decisively large quantity of carbon emissions. Moreover, the manufacturing process is also water intensive-thereby wasting another scare environmental resource. However, timber is a material that has a lower embodied energy level, which helps make structures greener and much more environmentally optimized.
- Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Projects
Exploiting the technical advancements of our age can help architects design a greener future. The digital age has created certain seminal tools like the BIM, which allows architects to gauge the environmental impact of a project prior to its commencement. This helps in augmenting efficiency as well as designing a project with a lower carbon footprint. This digital roadmap assists in reducing waste, condensing the gestation period of the project as well as curb its overall energy consumption.
- Retrofitting Old Buildings
Architects have to keep in mind that solely constructing environment-friendly buildings is not enough to combat the avalanche of global climate change. Potently adapting and retrofitting existing architectural structures is equally crucial. Architects must adopt the deep energy retrofit strategy for the old, existing buildings. This will aid these edifices meet the high-energy standards in an efficient manner as well as limit carbon emissions. Moreover, this strategy offers two-pronged success for an architect. Not only does it make existing structures more environmentally conscious, but it also helps enhance their hazard resilience potential.
Architects around the world are relentlessly striving to change the way their clients understand the economics of sustainable designs. They are attempting to demonstrate that the upfront cost of building a sustainable, environmentally responsible edifice may be marginally higher, but the long-term operational and maintenance costs of these buildings are comparatively lower than the conventional structures. The most coveted weapon in the hands of an architect is ingenuity. Through their innovative brilliance architects will be able to lead the world unto a dawn where green construction is the accepted, tangible reality.
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