Over the past few years, the architecture profession has turned a corner, significantly ramping up its commitments and contributions to confronting the climate crisis. Since the Glasgow Climate Change Conference in November, the importance of eliminating greenhouse gas pollution from the building sector is acknowledged much more broadly in industry, finance, and government both in the United States and globally. The search has intensified for principles, practices, policies, and programs that accelerate the decarbonization of buildings and cities.
The 2021 building energy codes require high-performance design at many levels. Cities across the U.S.—including New York and San Jose, Calif.—are requiring all new buildings to use no on-site fossil fuels—gas, oil, or propane—and to be 100% powered by on-site or off-site renewable energy, often in keeping with the Zero Code and 2021 International Energy Conservation Code Appendix CC. Examples of architecture that achieve the highest level of design and performance can be found in every issue of this magazine and in the design awards programs of local American Institute of Architects chapters.
This said, our profession frequently overlooks something just as crucial: eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings. Even if every new building designed from today forward meets the zero-carbon operations standard, buildings and cities will continue emitting more carbon pollution than industry, agriculture, or transportation. To reach zero emissions, we must eliminate the existing carbon footprint of the building sector and transform the performance of existing buildings.
As cities around the nation and world take stock of their decarbonization challenges, retrofitting existing buildings is beginning to get the attention it deserves. Building performance standard targets for existing buildings are being adopted as an essential program in citywide efforts to meet climate commitments. A growing list of cities around the U.S. have already passed BPS laws; Washington, D.C., for instance, began disclosing existing building energy performance in 2019 and implemented its first round of BPS in 2021.
AIA has been promoting and supporting building retrofit as climate action for nearly a decade. Notably, in 2013, AIA published Deep Energy Retrofits, An Emerging Opportunity; in 2019, Renovate, Retrofit, Reuse: Uncovering the hidden value in America’s existing building stock; and a forthcoming release with the working title Building Reuse Practice Guide Supporting Climate Action.
While the economic recovery from the Great Recession proceeded over the last decade, contrary to expectation, the rate of architectural billings for retrofit work remained high. Many architectural firms are experiencing the financial opportunity in retrofit work.
As an architect who spent much of my career rehabilitating and adding to existing buildings, I speak with firsthand experience on the subject. The importance of decarbonizing existing buildings is paramount.
There is no pathway to a zero-emissions building sector without zeroing out emissions from America’s approximately 325 billion square feet of existing buildings. But the message I most passionately want to convey is how rewarding the design challenge is in renewing and transforming existing buildings.
Wrestling with the constraints of existing buildings, discovering design solutions that respond creatively to their character, and holistically integrating new with old produces an unequaled richness of place. Try it. You’ll love it.
