It is well established that the built environment is responsible for a signification portion of the CO2 emissions that are driving global warming. And we have a very short window, less than a decade, to cut draw down emissions enough to head off the worst impacts. In Build Beyond Zero (Island Press, 2022), Bruce King and Chris Magwood make an urgent case to design and build beyond net-zero buildings. The aim needs to be higher – we need today regenerative, carbon-storing buildings. Data packed, accessible, and compelling, Build Beyond Zero avoids the defeatist or alarmist platitudes of some climate-related books. Instead, with a healthy dose of optimism, the authors illustrate a picture of a hopeful and potentially very real world where we in the building industry can mitigate climate change. The answer can be found now in carbon-storing materials, which will offset and draw down present emissions.
This book starts by laying the groundwork for a firm understanding of carbon emissions and their relationship to the built environment, in particular building materials and embodied carbon. The time value of carbon is important. This is the concept that emissions cut today are worth more than cuts promised in the future because of increasing risks of impacts from warming. Thus, there is an urgency to address embodied carbon now, especially in the materials used most: concrete and steel. While there are some opportunities to reduce the embodied carbon in these materials, through innovation and manufacturing practices, it is not enough. Another strategy to use less steel and concrete is to use what the book refers to as biological materials: lumber, mass timber, cork, straw, even mycelium. These biological materials are considered carbon-storing materials, which according to the authors, buy us some time, slows the buildup of emissions, and holds promise.
“It's not just the materials; we also need professionals and trades who know how to use them and regulations that permit them. We need a just transition because building a better society means more than capturing carbon."
Still, the authors assert that one of the most impactful strategies in fighting climate change is to make a just transition to design smarter: design more efficiently and for a circular economy, use less material, and design more collaboratively across disciplines and sectors. We in the building industry need to challenge the status quo, and in addition to design smarter, we need to stay vigilant and involved in local and national policies and codes that impact the built environment.
“The story of carbon continues and it is you. You and the allies you find and who find you. Do what you can, wherever you are with what you have. And then imagine even beyond that. Imagine building beyond zero to a world that works for everyone.”
Build Beyond Zero is a rich and timely resource that provides practical things you can do now to reduce the emissions impact of the building industry.
Alissa Kingsley, AIA, LEED AP, is Sustainability Operations Leader of HGA. She enjoys working on complex projects across commercial market sectors, including higher education, cultural, healthcare, public, and corporate projects. Alissa draws on her interdisciplinary experience and commitment to social and ecological well-being to discover unique solutions for each project.