TECHNOLOGY

The Way Ahead

Climate change has brought renewed attention to urgency for transformation of our economy. The climate emergency is acting as a major force of creative disruption within the architectural profession as it requires architects to establish new, more specialist bodies of knowledge and familiarize themselves with new methodologies and design tools.

In its recent report ‘The Way Ahead (2020)’ the RIBA acknowledges the need for change in architectural education and professional practice, and that even qualified and experienced architects need to engage in further learning to acquire climate literacy. It wrote:‘There is widespread acceptance that the built environment has an urgent role to play in responding to the climate emergency, and the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge calls on members to meet net zero whole life carbon (or less) in the buildings they design by 2030. It is anticipated that the Climate Literacy required to enable Chartered Architects to meet the 2030 Climate Challenge will follow as the second Mandatory Competence.’

Climate literacy

The RIBA and ARB have acknowledged that both students and qualified practitioners alike must acquire new knowledge, working methods and tools. Indeed, between 2019 and 2020 the RIBA also made a formal commitment to tackling the climate emergency, as outlined, amongst other, in the RIBA Sustainable Outcomes guide and the RIBA 2030 Climate challenge and also committed to promoting principles of sustainable development within the Professions, following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) See: Sustainable Development Goals in Practice. The ARB has also made ‘Sustainability Competence’ a requirement for professional qualification of architects, and the criteria have been outlined in their report ‘Competence Guidelines – Sustainability’.

Matthew Woodthorpe

1:5 detail drawings - Anthony Chester

Daylight Studies - Raimonds Baukerts