IDEAS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE

Architecture is that field that helps create our built environment and must respond to multiple factors ranging from users’ needs, legal constraints, budgets, culture, context, and increasingly global matters such as climate change and the proper use of our finite resources. Traditional, renewable, and recyclable materials used in new and creative ways are paths to reducing the carbon footprint and conserving resources while still making our built environment the most functional and beautiful that it can be.

With global warming advancing at an alarming rate, we must eliminate all CO2 emissions from the built environment if we hope to meet the climate target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

It is estimated that buildings account for about 40% of annual CO2 emissions. This comes mostly from the operations of buildings (where siting, design, and insulation play a role) but a significant part also comes from the fabrication and transport of materials and the construction (and waste generated) in the building processes.

Wood, a renewable resource has always been used in construction, yet it is sometimes popularly considered weak or even dangerous. Today, we see that wood can be safely used for building structures as well as finishes.

In Milwaukee, in the U.S., an 86.6-meter tower with the entire structure above the concrete base and stair shafts is made from wood (cross-laminated timber and glulam). In Europe, a mixed-used building for hotel, offices, and residences rises just over 85 meters and is located about two hours from Oslo, Norway. Of course, there are many lower buildings throughout the world using wood for structures, facades, and finishes.

Other European initiatives include the Build-in-Wood program, a European-funded Horizon 2020 project to drastically increase the proportion of timber construction. The city of Paris has introduced a low-carbon mandate that requires all constructions for the 2024 Summer Olympics of eight floors or taller must be constructed of timber.

Wood is but one traditional, renewable material to be considered for our buildings of the future. Along with using wood, we need more research about new ways to manage forests and responsible processes to design and manufacture building components. Policies and ordinances need to adapt and permit this material as an accepted, safe one for buildings of all sorts. Rammed earth offers other possibilities as a building material, especially in certain areas where construction may be a vehicle for training and jobs as well as buildings. And finally, keep your eye on mushrooms and other types of vegetation for sustainable structures. In 2019 an arched structure, four meters high, of mycelium was presented at Milan Design Week, and this gives us a taste of things to come!

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