The built environment is the largest source of the world’s carbon emissions, contributing approximately 40%. Leading by example, the architecture, engineering, planning, and construction community can embolden governments to do the same. From October 31 to November 12, 2021 government and business leaders from around the world will be converging at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP 26.  For nearly two decades, Architecture 2030 has shaped national and international attention on the building sector. At COP21 in 2015, the non-profit organization led the effort to highlight the critical role of the built environment in climate change. In November, Architecture 2030 will again press the issue, this time at COP26, with its president, Vincent Martinez, Hon. AIA, leading the delegation.

In the September 2021 interview for ARCHITECT, Martinez re-enforced the significance of COP26 and Architecture 2030’s message to the assembled governments and nongovernmental organizations.

Martinez articulated: “We have always focused on the actions that architects and building sector professionals can take to address climate change, starting with the 2030 Challenge as a call to action for private sector leadership. We’ve also worked on policy at all levels: international, national, and local governments. More recently, we’ve been working to align those efforts around an updated set of emissions reduction targets to reach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C carbon budget. COP26 provides a historic opportunity to amplify the targets—and the building sector’s actions to achieve them.”

MTBA’s Mark Thompson Brandt is a leader in architecture, historic preservation, sustainability, and adaptive reuse. Brandt founded the ZNCC Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Historic Buildings https://www.znccollaboration.org  and serves as it’s Co-Chair. The ZNCC brings together the AIA, RAIC, APT, ICOMOS and Architecture 2030 to coordinate/monitor technology development and integration for bringing historic places to Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) and to accelerate the ZNC of existing and historic places.

Additionally, Mark is the also the Co-Coordinator of the CHN’s Working Group 3, “Making the Case for Building Reuse”, who will be reporting at COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021.  http://climateheritage.org/wg3/

To read the full article, please go to Architect Magazine at https://www.architectmagazine.com/carbon-positive/carbonpositive-architectures-critical-role-at-cop26_o