Build a Better City by Decarbonizing

Cities sit at a challenging, yet exciting, intersection. The opportunities they offer attract people, but this density, which helps make cities the dynamic places they are, also increases greenhouse gas emissions.?

And this issue is only going to intensify, since north of 70% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. At CityAge, we call this the Urban Zero Challenge — hitting a net zero future while we see a massive amount of new construction and retrofits.

Want to learn more about zero-emissions buildings? Then check out CityAge’s The Urban Zero Challenge event on February 6 in Vancouver.

One of the key drivers of carbon emissions is buildings. According to the World Green Building Council, “buildings are currently responsible for 39% of global energy related carbon emissions: 28% from operational emissions, from energy needed to heat, cool and power them, and the remaining 11% from materials and construction.”?

This is why when cities create a diverse offering of homes, workspaces, schools, and places to play, they must prioritize resilient, zero-carbon builds to fight climate change and protect their residents from its impacts.

One way to meet this decarbonization moment is to use less-carbon-intensive materials.

Consider New York City’s recently launched NYC Mass Timber Studio, which offers technical support to developers who want to create mass timber projects. Since wood is less energy-intensive than other materials like concrete or steel, and also renewable, encouraging its use is part of the city’s plan to reduce embodied emissions (a.k.a., those from the lifecycle and transportation of building materials) by 50%. Mass timber is also potentially more fire safe than steel, according to the Mass Timber Institute at the University of Toronto.

Another option? Using recycled construction materials, which both supports the circular economy and protects biodiversity, note the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

As more people move to cities, the already high demand for housing, particularly affordable housing, will increase. So we are encouraged by the possibilities of the Living Places Copenhagen project, which features scalable affordable housing they say has a carbon footprint that’s substantially lower than most newly built homes in Denmark.

New builds aren’t the only way to decarbonize. Existing buildings can be retrofitted to lower their carbon footprint. Like Scotia Plaza, a 68-floor copper-coloured core part of Toronto’s financial district since 1989. Its central heating system was already electric, but the owners now have a plan to change the four fuel-consuming systems it uses to ones that aren’t powered by fossil fuels.