CLIMATE CHANGE IS OUR CHALLENGE
With urban areas responsible for over 70% of all annual global emissions – predominantly generated by existing building operations, and the materials and construction of new buildings and infrastructure – the international architecture, engineering, construction, planning and building community, must play a key role in meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. Highly ambitious actions and support from this group is crucial. They will send a strong market signal and give governments the confidence to urgently ramp up their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and short-term targets in line with the remaining global carbon budget, at COP26 in Glasgow this November.
The 1.5°Climate Actions presented here are for architecture, planning, and allied building and construction firms and organizations, and will produce unprecedented economic and socioeconomic opportunities. Commitments and actions from our community, aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory, will give businesses the clarity and confidence to invest decisively in the zero-carbon economies of the future.
Climate change is already impacting people, business operations, economies and ecosystems worldwide. The 1.5°Climate Actions will be presented to the UNFCCC and countries attending the COP26 in 2021, we are determined to ensure and act on ambitious CO2 emissions reductions in the built environment.
1.5ºCLIMATE ACTIONS:
The following actions align with the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels:
- Plan and design all new buildings, developments, and major renovations to:
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- use no on-site fossil fuels (gas, heating oil, etc.) and
- achieve zero carbon1 building operations.
- Fully electrify existing buildings when renovating and replacing equipment and systems to eliminate on-site fossil fuel use.
- Promote the adoption of zero-carbon building code standards as soon as possible, with adoption no later than 20252
- Prioritize renovating and upgrading existing buildings for extended use and re-use.
- Reduce the embodied carbon of all steel and concrete3 in new buildings and infrastructure by a minimum of 40%4 by 2021, and zero embodied carbon steel and concrete by 2030.
- Reduce all other building and construction materials to be low to zero embodied carbon (minimum 40% reduction by 20214), and all materials to be zero embodied carbon (or carbon positive) by 20405.
- Promote fossil fuel free construction sites.
The 1.5°Climate Actions strengthen the existing emissions reduction pledges and commitments that organizations, governments, and firms have already made, and unifies them within a high-ambition framework and timeline for a sustainable future.
Endnotes:
[1] Zero-carbon definition – a highly efficient building that uses no on-site fossil fuels and produces on-site, or procures, enough carbon-free renewable energy to meet building operations energy consumption annually.
[2] See ZERO Code as a reference (zero-code.org)
[3] Just two materials, steel and concrete, are responsible for about half of the industrial sector and 20% of all global CO2 emissions.
[4] Minimum of 40% reduction below the product category or building type average emissions (global warming potential) if available. This can be accomplished through design and/or material reductions.
[5] The reduction considers life cycle stages A1-A3, all activities starting with the extraction of materials from the earth, their transportation, refining, processing and fabrication activities until the material or product is ready to leave the factory.