How do we address the challenges of empty buildings, crowded buildings and carbon-heavy buildings? Here are insights from the past month.
EMBODY THE RULE
UK-based architects Joe Giddings and Seb Laan insist governments need to move now to establish embodied carbon regulations. While operational carbon in new buildings is falling (after decades of hard work) the climate crisis doesn’t afford the same amount of time for cutting the emissions from the manufacture and installation of building materials. Pointing to the first EC regulations in Finland and France, the candidates for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Council say it’s time for their government to get in the game. "Working together with architects and engineers like this, the government has a chance to do something truly revolutionary. The industry is waiting for the call,” they wrote.
In Architects Journal, 900 words
Why We Need Embodied Carbon Regulations Now
SPACE AVAILABLE
Sheila Botting of real estate firm Avison Young suggests underutilized government properties can be leveraged to finance investments in affordable housing or senior care. For example, the City of Toronto launched an initiative to repurpose city-owned properties into nearly 13,000 affordable housing units. Botting offers seven steps for officials to follow in assessing the impacts of Covid on their building stocks. “[W]hat if a silver lining of this crisis is the opportunity for governments to unlock public resources, redistribute investments, and optimize space to meet community needs?” she wrote.
On Harvard Business Review, 900 words
What Should We Do with 45,000 Half-Empty Public Buildings?
BUILDING BLOCKS OF TIME
Architecture critic Alexandra Lange explores how the pandemic has changed perceptions of time. In New York City where she lives, the dynamics of waiting and scheduling are coming into sharp focus as businesses and schools begin to reopen. She looks at examples of time-based use already happening before Covid, and some that have been adopted since. "One of the most potent tools for reopening leaves no visible trace: We can make more space in dense cities by taping off chunks of time, not the floors of our buildings,” she wrote.
On Curbed, 1100 words
New York Needs to Rethink Time, Not Space, To Actually Reopen
SAY IT WITH STYLE
Now more than ever, our communities need leaders with wisdom and compassion to step forward and be heard. In addition to logic and data, effective leaders also use stories and style to connect with people's emotions. But capturing these in writing isn't always easy.
From New Growth Communications, 500 words
How to Ghostwrite a Leader’s Unique Voice
Free Download For You (PDF)
21 Green Building Publications That Want Your Articles
Includes descriptions, rankings and tips on submission
NEW RESOURCES
Commercial real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield launched the 6 Feet Office project conceptualizing a "new normal" for bringing people back to work.
Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center for Housing created a Home Attainability Index to help municipalities and the development community better understand housing markets and the challenge of affordability. Learn more here.
The global smart buildings market was valued at US$43.8 billion in 2019, according to a new report by ResearchandMarkets.com.
The global green building materials market is forecast to reach US$573.91 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data.
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Take care,
Bart King
