The impact of climate change—including extreme heat, severe storms, sea rise, pollution and drought—is being felt globally. To protect our planet, and meet government targets, we must act now. The architecture and construction industry must set bold, ambitious, and achievable targets to reduce our environmental impact. These goals must be underpinned by science, creativity, and new approaches to design.
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This series brings together panelists with diverse perspectives and insights—architects, economists, researchers, academics, and governmental advocates—to discuss the challenges we face and potential solutions that we can turn to.
Eighty percent of the built environment that will exist in 2050 is already constructed. Adequately increasing the energy performance of this stock is a far greater challenge on every count than designing and constructing new buildings. However, there is no credible roadmap for doing this. How are we going to move this mountain?
Today, achieving net-zero on new build gets the most attention. In this session, we will shift our focus to an alternate approach that leads to a greater impact on the broader economy: retrofit.
Finance is a primary instrument that enables markets to invest in the near-term to achieve long-term returns and other benefits. It is key to the necessary and capital-intensive action towards mitigating climate instability. How are banks, insurers, and the finance sector stepping up? How can government interventions help markets consider long-term consequences of decisions and choices—or externalities—that are now increasingly the realities for millions of people around the world?
What if we discovered how to have abundant clean power? What if we found a way to extract carbon from the air? What if we increased the capacity of carbon sinks? What if we eliminated all waste and were able to re-use, re-purpose, and recycle everything? We will explore the likelihood of a breakthrough in the practical application of technologies that could undo the unintended consequences of past tech.
Sab Pell is senior director of product marketing at Openform, where her goal is to help people unlock the power of in-person events. Prior to Openform, she led global product marketing teams. Sab Pell is senior director of product marketing at Openform, where her goal is to help people unlock the power of in-person events. Prior to Openform, she led global product marketing teams.
