Architecture must quickly kick its carbon habit and minimize the threat of climate change. The profession has already made great progress toward eliminating CO₂ emissions from new buildings’ operations. But energy efficiency is just the first step. The next is to shift to renewables and eliminate emissions from building materials, also known as embodied carbon.

AIA is making climate change a major priority for the foreseeable future, and will shortly be sharing a draft action plan for member feedback. As new AIA president Jane Frederick, FAIA, writes in her first letter to members, “Architects have the specialized skills and perspective to help solve this unique challenge.” What’s more, the decarbonization process offers architects an epochal opportunity to reinvent how and what they design.

This special issue of ARCHITECT, edited in partnership with the nonprofit Architecture 2030 and its founder and CEO, Edward Mazria, FAIA, is meant to help architects get CO₂ out of their systems, for the health, safety, and welfare of us all.

• The Carbon Issue

  Meeting the urgent need for climate action, with decarbonization strategies for materials, design, practice, and policy.

  

• It’s Time to Quit: A Call to Action on Climate, Carbon, and the Built Environment

  Adapted from the opening and closing keynotes given by Edward Mazria, FAIA, at the CarbonPositive’19 Summit in Chicago.

  

• The Language of Carbon

  Thinking about COPY 27, here's a refresher of seventeen terms that will help you talk the talk of carbon positive design.

  

• Sustainable Building Materials for Low Embodied Carbon

  Here are eight of the most carbon-friendly products for roofing, cladding, insulation, and other categories—all of which are available for specification, or soon to be.

  

• Concrete, Steel, or Wood: Searching for Zero-Net-Carbon Structural Materials

  Steel and concrete predominate the U.S. commercial building market for structural materials, while engineered wood—specifically mass timber—is garnering attention for its potential embodied carbon savings and sequestration ability.

  

• How to Measure Embodied Carbon

  Here's a hand guide on some tips and tools to help determine the carbon footprint of a project or product.

  

• Five Construction Details to Reduce Embodied and Operational Carbon

  It's time to rethink details that perpetuate the widespread use of energy-intensive materials.

  

• Renovation, Restoration, and Adaptive Reuse: The Understated Value of Existing Buildings

  It’s not enough to design super-efficient new buildings. To reach zero-net carbon, architects have to improve performance in existing buildings, and make the most of the embodied carbon we’ve already spent on them.

  

• With Housing’s Carbon Footprint, Density Matters

  A new e-book from Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture analyzes the embodied carbon and other attributes of nine housing types to uncover ideal residential densities—those that improve quality of life while minimizing their environmental impact.

  

• Aim Higher: How to Transition Your Firm to Zero Net Carbon

  Looking for tangible steps to committing to zero-net-carbon design? Here, three very different practices—Studio Ma, BWBR, and Gensler—share their ongoing journeys.