CA38 - 🖐🏽 Forget resolutions set goals
COP28 Report Card, Top 10 green products, setting sustainable goals and more.
NEWSWORTHY
☘️ LEED V5 which will heavily target decarbonization is planned to be ready for use in 2025.
⚡️ Architecture 2030 releases its COP28 Report Card highlighting the key topics and results.
THE POLL
THE TOPIC
You’ve probably been there before. It’s December 31 st, and it’s time set those dreaded New Years Resolutions.
Do any of these ring a bell?
I’m going to leave the office at 5pm
I’m going to be more productive at work
I’m going to spend less time on my phone
The problem I have with resolutions is that they are usually vague, they focus on an outcome rather than a habit, and it feels like if you fail you need to wait a year before you can reset them.
So I don’t do resolutions anymore. They don’t work for me.
Instead I think a more effective method is to set yearly GOALS.
Setting goals, if done correctly, can set your year on a trajectory to achieve the things you want to achieve. If you have a setback, that’s okay, the goal is still there waiting.
So this year, why don’t you think about setting some carbon goals. Either for your workplace or your home.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1 | Run 1 sustainability workshop for a new project
We will talk about this more in a future issue, but running a sustainability workshop is an important first step on a project to help establish goals, set the right targets, and educate clients on sustainable practices.
2 | Green your specifications - Insulation, aluminum, carpet
This will be another fuller topic for later on, but setting the goal improve your offices base specification is a great goal. This could be setting embodied carbon limits for a few materials, making sure the base materials you have specified aren’t high carbon emitters, or requiring EPD’s for all materials.
3 | Take a course (and invite a friend as well)
A great way to increase your knowledge and be more effective in your role is to take a course to upgrade your carbon skills. Take a LEED preparation course, or the Passive House program. An even better way to make this a goal is to invite a friend, or encourage your office to join you.
TL:DR Forget about resolutions, set carbon goals
Carbon goals set the trajectory for the year
Some ideas include - Running a sustainability workshop, greening your specifications, and taking a course.
THE PERSON
Susan is the Sustainable Design Leader at HOK and works with our clients to design future-proof spaces that align with their goals, and support employee health and comfort. She has have a unique blend of experience in the technical and social sciences to assist her clients create sustainable and healthy spaces that drive their ESG goals.
THE PROJECT
The Sara Kulturhus Centre by White Arkitekter is a beautiful skyscraper located in Skellefteå Sweden filled with cultural programs including a theatre, library, and hotel. The building claims to be “carbon-negative” from it’s Mass Timber structure and extensive use of wood and low-carbon solar + geothermal heating systems.