Embodied Energy
Net Zero Buildings Explored: International House Sydney, Australia
March 28th, 2024Net Zero Buildings Explored: Cambridge University’s Civil Engineering Building
February 23rd, 2024
“Our Industry is Not Moving Fast Enough” – UK Green Building Council
The United Kingdom (UK) is falling behind in its projected green building roadmap according to the UK’s Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) progress report. The initial 2021 roadmap demanded a 19% drop in emissions over the past four years but the latest data shows just a 13% fall, more than 30% short of the target reduction. […]
Reviewing the 2024 Smart Building Overlay to RIBA’s Plan of Work
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has created a Smart Building Overlay to the 2020 RIBA Plan of Work, which clearly defines the stages of development in building projects. This Smart Building Overlay acts as a resource for all built environment professionals, clients and end users, looking for guidance on how to incorporate smart […]
Net Zero Buildings Explored: NASA Sustainability Base
Dubbed the “First Space Station on Earth” —the NASA Sustainability Base, has served as an experimental model for smart and net zero buildings for over a decade. In this research note, we explore how the building was designed, constructed, and operated to achieve a positive impact on the environment. NASA teamed up with William McDonough […]
Defining a Zero Emissions Building from the Top Down
A zero emissions building is not as easy to define as you may think. Should it include embodied carbon, for example, should efficiency and clean energy generation be specific parts of the definition or should it simply refer to the level of emissions, whatever the approach? These are the kinds of questions being discussed in […]
Net Zero Buildings Explored: Tesla Gigafactory, Nevada
Like most of the projects Elon Musk is involved in, the plans laid out for the Tesla Gigafactory are on another scale to other net zero buildings and the project has rewritten the rules on how to design, build, and operate a facility. Covering a footprint of approximately 5.4 million square feet, for comparison that […]
Net Zero Buildings Explored: The SEE Institute, Dubai Sustainable City
The SEE Institute is a flagship for net zero buildings in Dubai Sustainable City, an environmentally responsible mixed-use and residential district in the desert. The 50,000 square foot net zero commercial building will be dedicated to the advancement of sustainability knowledge, technology, and innovations through research, training, events and incubation of tech startups working on […]
Net Zero Buildings Explored: DBS Newton Green, Singapore
DBS Newton Green is one of Singapore’s first net zero buildings by a bank and a great example of the potential of retrofitting over rebuilding. In line with the bank’s net zero targets, the 30-year-old building was set for demolition before a bold retrofit was proposed and approved to reduce embodied carbon impact without compromising […]
EU Cracks Down On Greenwashing… Will Smartwashing Be Next?
Last month, the European Parliament set out its new Green Claims Directive, which seeks to address the rampant problem of greenwashing across the continent. Greenwashing practices have become prevalent and the new directive hopes to solve that by proposing two new laws that address vague and misleading green claims by companies. The launch of the […]
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