CraigMichaels Inc

This March we will be launching ArchiSpec, the premier educational and networking forum for senior architects and heads of specification from the nation’s leading architectural firms. We are excited to announce that green building pioneer Ed Mazria, Founder of Architecture 2030, will be keynoting the inaugural program. Michelle Cardinal, producer of ArchiSpec had a chance to speak to Ed to discuss how architecture has made great strides in supporting the development of a sustainable built environment.

Michelle Cardinal: Congratulations on winning the Purpose Prize for 2011. What areas of research will you contribute to with your award?

Edward Mazria: The award will be supporting the development of the 2030 Palette, an online platform of an entire set of design and planning principles in a visual format for planners and architects. The Palette sets out a total language for environmental design, from large scale planning issues to sustainable building elements. 

MC: Tell us about it and your goals with this initiative.

EM: We know from history that the built environment transforms when Building Sector leaders identify and outline specific principles to guide their work. The 2030 Palette draws from the work of practitioners in the field of sustainable planning and design. It takes the best of what’s out there in terms of knowledge and successful projects from around the world, aggregates it, and makes it freely available to a global audience via the web. By doing so, we establish a language on how we move forward to achieve a shared vision – a language to guide design and planning work from now and into the future. We call it “tomorrow’s built environment, today.”

MC: When you began Architecture 2030 ten years ago, what did you envision it to be and has your idea come to fruition?

EM: In 2002, we discovered the connection between energy consumption and climate change. Once we discovered the connection, we began to investigate further and compile information by analyzing issues and developing potential solutions. In 2003 we reported on the connection through Metropolis Magazine. The issue was titled “Architects Pollute.” It was pretty shocking to architects because design is thought of a problem solving endeavor to make the world a better place, to create better living conditions for people. When a prominent magazine comes out with cover like that, it’s a shock that reverberates through the entire industry. There wasn’t anything deliberately malicious taking place at the time, CO2 emissions was just an unrecognized design consequence. The Metropolis article presented hard facts and attributed the largest portion of total U.S. energy consumption to the Building Sector. The facts presented in the article are still valid today. That was the beginning of Architecture 2030. At first it was a pro-bono part of our architecture practice. In 2006, we officially launched it as a non-profit research organization. The goal then was to transform the Building Sector in time to make a difference. The good news is, the train has left the station and the transformation is underway. The only question now is, are we on the local or the express? Our role is to ensure we’re on the express.  

MC: How can specifiers play a role in contributing to transforming the built environment?

EM: What we’ve discovered is that the building design and specification community has a huge impact on a building’s total energy consumption. They literally design and specify every single item that makes up a building, from concrete, steel and glass, to paint, carpet and hardware. All the energy consumed to build a building, consists of the energy consumed in the extraction of raw materials, transporting those materials to a plant, manufacturing products, transporting products and constructing the building. That’s what we call a building’s ‘embodied energy’, and it doesn’t change much over the lifetime of a building.  A question that is often asked is, “how many years does it take for the energy used to operate a building, to equal the building’s embodied energy?” The answer is “roughly 18-20 years”.

Think of the power designers and specifiers have. If they begin specifying products that have a low carbon content yet cost roughly the same as comparable products, entire industries will change in order to market their products and compete. We call this the power of the pen. Designers and specifiers have the power, if they act collectively, to change entire industries with the stroke of a pen.

MC: When it comes to sustainable design, what are the top 5 elements that you feel should be included?

EM: I’m not sure there is a top 5, but there is an established set of priorities or a process that one can follow. There are 3 elements to the process.

1. First, begin with design. Reduce fossil fuel energy consumption by accessing renewable site energy resources. Building energy consumption can be reduced by 50-80% through proper siting, landscape, building shape, color and orientation, and by incorporating passive energy systems and daylighting strategies. This is the low cost/no cost/cost savings options.
2. Next, incorporate appropriate technologies. Many site renewable energy systems are available for heating, cooling and electricity generation  – solar hot water heating, photovoltaics, site-scale wind, water capture/saving technology, active daylighting systems, etc.  
3. And finally, incorporate and use renewable community power generation such as small-scale electric generation using biomass, photovoltaics, or wind, or purchase renewable energy from a central utility.

The key is to employ design strategies to make the largest energy consumption reductions, next incorporate site renewable technologies and then if necessary, purchase renewable energy to meet the 2030 Challenge target. 

MC: NYC has some of the most notable sustainable buildings in the country. We’re a small NY-based company and as a native NYer yourself, which city do you feel is the most sustainable?

EM: There are many cities looking to become more sustainable. Most cities currently use less energy per capita (than the national average) due to higher building densities and efficient public transportation. New York, Seattle, Portland, Cleveland and San Francisco are implementing programs to further reduce their energy consumption. This is significant because the world is urbanizing very quickly and cities will play a key role in addressing the energy and climate crises.

Edward Mazria presents more on this topic as the opening keynote for the inaugural ArchiSpec taking place March 25-27, 2012, in Henderson, Nevada. For more information on this event, please visit www.archispecsummit.com.