Are architects killing the planet?

As an architect, it sometimes sounds like architecture is the solution to everything in spite of the constraints of reality. Urban spawl? Fix it with architecture. Social inequality? Design better homes (and win a Pritzker). The progressive, coffee sipping, NPR listening architect of the 21st century believes (rightly so) that they are making the world a better place. We put recycling bins in the office, turn off the lights at the end of the day, and pat ourselves on the back when we win an award for a LEED project. It is easy to feel like architecture is a source of positive good and the forces driving the world to climate change are "big business", "overconsumption", and the "government".

Your average lawyer cannot do much about climate change. A doctor hears about the polar bears in the artic and feels bad. The administrators of universities set ambitious carbon reduction targets. Cities claim to be net-zero by 2050. A consumer feels the moral obligation to buy an electric car. The fact of the matter is that very few decisions your average first world consumer makes on the job or in the checkout aisle at Whole Foods will have any effect on climate change (you could stop eating meat).

Above is an image showing the effects of sea level rise with 2 m to 4 m (highly likely) covering most of southern Florida in ocean.

While everyone else is doing their part to stop climate change one miniscule decision at a time, architects make decisions each day of enourmous carbon impact. Today in the United States, buildings account for nearly 40% of carbon emissions (EESI) and 78% of electricity usage. Stop and look around your desk at your co-workers in the firm. Think about how many projects actually have an energy model being run. Even the most sustainability focused firms might model 50% of their projects (in many firms it is only 10%) and only late in the process when it is too late to change the design (AIA 2030 report). Each building that goes up will consume energy and generate carbon emissions for 20, 30, (if you are lucky) 50 to 100 years into the future. Worse yet, even when a project has an energy model, many lead designers ignore its conclusions because "it constrains my design". When you look into the face of your children and grandchildren and they see a world ruined, will that argument for not making efficient buildings hold water?

Performance modeling must be the norm for every project and not an afterthought. From the youngest "aspiring architect" to the crusty old principal who "does not believe" in climate change, we must ensure that all buildings have an energy model. Owners do not know that more efficient buildings can be cheaper to build (with optimization), cheaper to operate, and attract higher rents. Engineers do what is in their contract with the architect. Contractors rely on the architect to specify energy efficient buildings. The public believes that architects are defending their health, safety, and welfare while designing good buildings. Let us not let them down!

Fixing the problem has to start at each architect's desk. Start with the project on your desk. Make sure that every project you work on gets an energy model. Ask questions. Sell your clients on the many benefits (financial ones at that). Show performance in the pursuit stage. Model early and often. Change your decision making process to incorporate the results. Architects are on the front lines of the fight against climate change. Let us all stop climate change one project at a time so that we leave the world a better place long after the Pritzker's have turned to dust. Let us all work to protect the health, safety, and welfare of this generation and those to come. Are architects killing the planet? Yes. Can we fix it? Absolutely!

And that is very good news indeed!

Focusing on the crossover between architecture and technology, Patrick Chopson leads Cove Tool, Inc., a building consulting software company delivering daylight, cost, and energy modeling services. He oversees product development and strategy as it provides a web based software for cost optimization vs energy performance to dramatically lower the cost of green buildings. Graduating in 2014 with a Master's in High Performance Buildings from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Patrick focuses on architecture, process integration, and computational design. He is a licensed architect with over 10 years of experience in both architecture and mechanical engineering firms. His undergraduate in architecture is from Kennesaw State University in Marietta, GA.