Iceland has just held a funeral for Okjökull, the first glacier ‘killed’ by climate change, writes Associate – Architecture Catherine Ng.
Our Earth is getting sick. Ongoing warming impacts of climate change have been shown. We must take action, before this planet faces its “death certificate,” as Prince Charles told The Guardian.
As responsive architects, CM+ together with more than 400 Australian practices have declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. We are calling for all Australian architects to sign the #architectsdeclare_au commitment.
Together, with our collective will, we can:
- Rethink the design, construction, operation and dismantling of buildings in order to mitigate climate change and increase resilience toward its effects.
- Be responsible product specifiers to move manufacturers toward low embodied carbon material.
- Consume minimal wasteful use of resources over current norms.
- Relearn the great joy of doing more with less.
- Adapt and retrofit existing buildings.
- Pursue renewable energy. Lead the way and identify a path for our client to meet their energy goals with low-carbon energy procurement and green energy contracts.
- Educate society that a net-zero building strategy can be economically viable.
The building industry in the US consumes some 40% of the country’s energy, annually, through greenfield development, cement production and burning of fossil fuels, Ned Cramer writes in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.
These activities emit nearly half of carbon dioxide produced in the US, making buildings – and therefore the architecture profession – “profoundly responsible” for climate change, he says.
CM+ is aware of the urgent need to respond to the climate and biodiversity emergency. Together we can work to make a difference.
Catherine Ng, Associate – Architecture, has worked with CM+ for 15 years. She has built extensive experience in infrastructure, residential, campus and public buildings over a career spanning 20 years in Australia, China and the UK. Catherine believes great design should be available to all, and grounded in the culture of its local context.