“Roll up your sleeves and start adapting to change immediately.” – Mark Thompson Brandt

MTBA and Mark Thompson Brandt are excited to be part of this year’s joint APT and National Trust Conference, HINDSIGHT 2020. Due to the ongoing Pandemic, the conference is taking place virtually from Edmonton. The online format has provided additional platforms to share insights, lessons, and solutions that explore the intersection of sustainability technique, design, and policy, while promoting greater collaboration!

HINDSIGHT 2020 will explore heritage conservation’s disruptive role in a 21st century defined by resource scarcity, climate change and sustainability. Mark was the lead speaker in a special Workshop Feature on the first day of the conference entitled: The Climate Crisis and Moving Towards Zero Net Carbon.

Billed as THE workshop for anyone involved in the stewardship of existing and historic buildings, it showcases the efforts Brandt and MTBA have contributed towards Heritage Conservation, Preservation and Sustainability – leading the way towards the de-carbonization of existing and historic buildings, which account for a massive share of carbon emissions.

Brandt’s presentation served as a rallying call to Heritage Professionals in that– urgent action is needed. Using Edmonton as an example – GHG emissions, there have been some very minor progress, unchanged in 14 years which is typical of many cities in North America. We need to cut this in half in 10 years – so radical change is needed. This should happen with the biggest emitters – existing buildings.

Mark highlighted the opportunities for Conservation Professionals. Conservationists have already developed skills that are needed for this, and they can be Leaders of Existing Building Rehabilitation. They are:

• Truly cross-disciplinary and collaborative;
• Skilled at determining value and how to protect it;
• Have expertise in questioning further, delving deeper into  root causes and building rationales for interventions;
• Experienced in learning to fully understand the building;
• Have learned approaches to making changes to existing buildings that will optimize economic,  environmental and functional requirements while protecting value.

Ultimately, climate chaos is changing our world. There will be an unprecedented wave of building rehabs in the future – and new approaches to heritage rehabilitation.

Last time APT and National Trust joined forces for a conference was in Ottawa in 2017, where the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration– the ZNCC – was formed. The ZNCC, of which Brandt is a founder, is a strategic alliance committed to accelerating the zero net carbon (ZNC) of existing and historic buildings and places, accounting for both embodied carbon and operational carbon emissions, through developing leadership in best practices for the ZNC rehabilitation of most existing buildings, and in the responsible re-use of built resources in general. MTBA has continued in this collaborative spirit, including having the majority of its team enroll in the Workshop, as well as several participate in the entire Conference.

For more information on Hindsight 2020, please visit the conference website HERE.