RIBA and Architects Declare publish joint report ahead of COP26
The RIBA and Architects Declare have published a joint report ahead of COP26 demonstrating the critical role the sector must play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
该报告的作者——由Buro Happold的建筑师Maria Smith领导——汇集了整个行业的研究，并向政府和同事提出了关键的建议。
These range from reporting emissions on a consumption basis to adapting building codes to support the decarbonisation of buildings.
The report, Built for the Environment, said: “Worryingly, only 20% of countries include building energy codes as part of their Nationally Determined Contributions [NDCs – countries’ commitments to reducing their emissions].
“However, well-designed regulations can promote innovation, allowing us to achieve broader social, economic, and environmental goals.”
These should go hand-in-hand with policy changes to planning systems, public procurement, grants, incentives and enabling infrastructure, it said.
“The built environment is central to our quality of life. With greater emphasis in government policy, it can become a central partner in addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies.”
The 78-page report also calls for far more retrofit, for the decarbonisation of materials and products and for a reduction in the energy required to operate buildings. It points out that while the industry can deliver low- or zero-energy buildings, 28% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are currently caused by heating, cooling and operating buildings.
Smith, a RIBA councillor and director of sustainability at Buro Happold, said: “This report is a call for governments across the world to include built environment actions in their net zero plans.
“The built environment sector can be a transformative force in meeting the challenges of the climate and biodiversity emergency.
“The knowledge, tools, and skills exist, but support and infrastructure is needed to mainstream best practice and bring about the transition to a fair and sustainable built environment for all.”
该报告紧随下个月举行的为期两天的虚拟建筑环境峰会，该峰会将为该行业在COP26之前提供一个团结的机会，英国皇家建筑师协会新任主席西蒙·奥尔福德表示，这是至关重要的。
“Industry and governments need to work together to accelerate the global decarbonisation of buildings,” he added.
“I encourage the entire sector to endorse and amplify the report’s recommendations – we must speak with one voice to deliver a clear and urgent message.”
Built for the Environment: The recommendations
• Governments to ensure environmental targets are science-based and fair – this means reporting greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption-basis, and including built environment actions and all sources of emissions within net zero plans (including NDCs).
• Governments to shift focus onto reducing absolute emissions, as opposed to reductions per square meter of building area, or per person. Greenwashing or reliance on large offsets will not help us meet our collective goals.
• Governments must both mitigate and adapt to the climate and biodiversity emergencies. Nature-based solutions and traditional ecological knowledge, wisdom and technologies are central to both.
• Those operating within the built environment to actively adapt practice. From breaking down silos between disciplines and competencies, to communicating and sharing information, to shifting cultural ideas of beauty and design, the entire sector must adapt.
• Information to be openly and widely shared to enable collaboration and transparent decision-making. This includes information around land, buildings, ecosystems, and infrastructure, as well as knowledge and skills.
•社会公正仍将是所有行动的核心。这意味着让那些受变革影响的人参与决策，共同设计社会政策，促进向公平和可持续的建筑环境过渡，采取步骤确保迅速和公平地解决意外的负面后果。
>> From the archive: Maria Smith:Imagine a future where we don’t have to choose between economy and ecology
Case study: Mayfield, Manchester: delivering a new urban neighbourhood
曼彻斯特的梅菲尔德项目认识到城市场地上现有环境资产的潜力，从而产生有意义的环境效益。该公园将为生物多样性带来90%的净增长，包括28个受保护和优先物种的特定栖息地，包括蝙蝠箱、鸟箱和无脊椎动物庇护所。
U&I is working with Studio Egret West, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, and Buro Happold to restore degraded ecosystems to improve the resilience of human habitats against climate change with nature-based solutions.
Doing so will also improve the resilience of non-human habitats and the species that depend on them by providing new food sources, resting places, and connections, all within a major city.
该项目利用生物工程技术来管理自然洪水。它建议部分拆除现有的砖墙，让河岸物种重新引入这段河流。此外，河流沿岸的人工高水位将被降低，以便在高降雨期间发生洪水，创造一个“野外景观”区域，更成功地减轻了洪水的影响。
Planting with native species, and providing habitat features for wildlife will create attractive, multifunctional spaces for people and wildlife. The large new area of green space and opening up the river will help to reduce the urban heat island effect. Overall, the new park will be an important resource for the local community by increasing access to nature within an otherwise densely developed part of the city.
Postscript
Thereportcan be downloaded from and endorsed on the RIBA website
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