CA41 - 🍃 Green is all wrong

The first Zero Carbon Hotel?, LEED certified in 2-weeks, and the problem with the word “green”

NEWSWORTHY

• ♺ 2050 Materials breaks down the embodied carbon benchmarks from the recent SBTI Carbon Benchmarks

• 📚The Regenerative Engineer (book) was just released from the Institute of Structural Engineers!

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THE SPONSOR

A few weeks ago over 25% of you said you want to get LEED certified this year.

Well here is your first chance. I’ve partnered with Archiroots to give you 15% off all their LEED courses. You can pass the LEED Exam in 2 weeks, and it’s all online.

They even have a free LEED GA study guide!

Just use the code TheCarbonArchitect at checkout.

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THE TOPIC

As many of you probably have too, I’ve started using AI. It’s incredible the power and speed at which you can design and produce.

One thing that I’ve noticed consistently is the confusion around green, sustainable, and high-performance buildings.

Let’s take a look at some quick examples:

Prompt: // A sustainable building in an urban environment.

Prompt: // A high-performance building in a grass field

What do we see? Lots and lots of greenery and lots of glass.

To be fair, for an AI to understand “green” vs “green” is pretty challenging, although if it had some intelligence it should be able to figure that one out.

ANYWAYS - what does this mean for us architects?

We need to talk about our buildings in the right way. After all, AI is being trained on the images and words we write about our work.

1// Stop calling your buildings “green”

As we all know, sustainable buildings are not covered in greenery! In fact they are everything but green. This term had a place in creating a vibe and brand for sustainable buildings, but I think we are beyond that point.

2// Start being specific about your sustainable strategies

What exactly are the sustainable strategies of your building? Is it low-energy, low-carbon, low-water, low-waste? Does it promote active transportation and foster walkable communities? Let’s talk more about those specifics and less about generic “green”.

3// Educate on high-performance

This comes up in almost every issue, but we need to educate our clients and the public about high-performance buildings. What does it mean, how do they differ from traditional design, and what does it cost (short & long-term). This means posting on your websites, writing on your social media, and advocating in your city. We as a profession need to be more vocal about this topic.

TLDR:

People (and AI) are confused about “green” buildings

Architects need to:

1 - Stop calling our buildings “green”

2 - Start being specific about our sustainable strategies

3 - Educate clients and the public on high-performance design

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THE PERSON

Naama has a bold vision: to change the conversation about what good development can and should look like; with that in mind, she co-founded Smart Density which is an architecture and planning firm that focuses on smart development. She is an expert on the Missing Middle and talks regularly on LinkedIn about great development.

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THE PROJECT

Have you seen this hotel that is claiming to be the “First Carbon Positive Hotel” in the US? Pretty bold claims I must say, and I’m skeptical to say the least. The project is located in Denver, Colorado and is designed by Studio Gang. It used EcoPact low-carbon concrete to reduce the concrete impact by 30% and the wood slats in the lobby are made from reclaimed wood. Oh, did I mention to offset their carbon they planted a 70,000 tree forest? What do you think?

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