News

The Architects' Journal recently published an article on 'demolition vs. retrofit'. The Architects Declare Steering Group contributed its position on this debate, with the article quoting part of this. We share the full statement below:

If we are to reduce carbon emissions to the extent necessary to avoid catastrophic climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, upgrading existing buildings - as opposed to building new - must now become the default. Prioritising retrofit over new build is going to mean a change in ‘business as usual’ for our industry.

This is not going to be easy. Many refurbishment schemes are unlikely to produce the level of profit that a new-build can offer, jobs may feel at stake in such turbulent economic times, and retrofit is often seen as a less attractive design solution. We acknowledge all of this, but we call upon the industry to stand united in pushing for necessary system change and to celebrate the creativity that can come with retrofit.

There is a big skills gap in the industry and it is important that architects become literate in Whole Life Carbon (WLC) analysis so that they can interpret results and make design decisions based on their environmental impact. However, it must be recognised that WLC Assessments are highly technical, especially with the need to consider building systems as an integrated whole rather than individual parts, and we cannot expect architects or planners to be well-versed enough currently to pick up on errors or greenwash. Accurate, proportionate and non-biased WLC reporting to precisely set standards will be imperative if we are to cut carbon emissions, and legislation will play a key part in ensuring that this happens. Architects Declare will continue to push for this.

We recognise that we need to go further in helping and encouraging our signatories and the industry as a whole in this field and we acknowledge that in rare instances demolition may indeed be justified, but this would need to be verified in an accurate and non-biased WLC analysis. We are currently in discussion with signatories looking for an open conversation on contentious demolition schemes: not looking to name and shame, but to interrogate demolition decisions such as these, educate and push for change.

You can find the Architects' Journal piece online: Whole-life carbon assessments – a whole new type of greenwash?

Within our 12-point Declaration of Climate & Biodiversity Emergency, declaration points 6 & 7 are:

• Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efficient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice.
• Include life cycle costing, whole life carbon modelling and post occupancy evaluation as part of our basic scope of work, to reduce both embodied and operational resource use.

Responding to reports, for example in Dezeen (23/9/92), that the United Nations is to launch a set of principles for sustainable and inclusive urban design and architecture, Architects Declare states that:

We support the work of the UN in shaping a better world. All these points are eminently achievable & necessary. However, AD believes there is an urgent need to bring about a shift in mindset from sustainable to regenerative development.

Our aim is 2-fold: to support signatories in getting our houses in order & to use the collective influence of signatories to bring about systems change. AD would be open to collaborating with the UN to assist in raising the ambition from ‘Sustainable’ to ‘Regenerative Development Goals’.

The Architects' Journal recently approached Architects Declare for a comment on the choice of Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the new government. The AD Steering Group agreed the following text:

"To appoint Jacob Rees-Mogg, a climate sceptic, to head up the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Department at this time of increasing planetary emergency, is ‘dangerous, radical’ madness. He has voted 16 times out of 16 times against climate bills, talks of squeezing ‘every last cubic inch of gas’ from the North Sea despite advice that it will do nothing to ease prices for consumers and has spoken against the net zero targets.

"We have to agree with Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, when he said recently: ‘Climate activists are sometimes called dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of Fossil Fuels’.

"Is the UK about to become a ‘dangerous radical’?

"We can only hope that Alok Sharma’s continued role as COP26 president, Graham Start’s appointment as Minister for Climate Change, Chris Skidmore, Zac Goldsmith and other ‘turquoise Tories’ can counter the worst of Rees-Mogg’s influence.

"He needs to wake up to the fact that over 80% of Tory voters support renewables, solar, offshore and on-shore wind."

The AJ published their piece on 12th September.

The Steering Group of Architects Declare in the UK this morning agreed the following statement, which has been drafted with representatives of Architects Declare in other countries:

"As Architects Declare, we declare our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and our unreserved condemnation for those involved in waging war against the country, the people, cultural artifacts and the natural environment. We also condemn the racist treatment of refugees and call for fair treatment of all those attempting to flee war zones.

"We call on all our signatory members to cease work on any major projects in Russia until such time as the country is willing to respect International Law.

"Furthermore, we pledge our willingness to help defuse one of the biggest threats to global peace since the Second World War. Putin’s war machine is very substantially funded by sales of gas to other countries. We therefore call on our respective Governments to implement an emergency level of mobilization in shifting our economies away from fossil fuels and towards a safer, renewably powered future. We as an industry will assist in implementing these measures and as Architects Declare we are committed to shaping a positive future for all.”

This joint statement has been supported already by Architects Declare groups in the following countries, and more will be added as their national committees are able to discuss:

Aotearoa New Zealand / Australia / Belgium / Canada / Denmark / Finland / France / Germany / Hungary / Iceland / Ireland / Italy / Kenya / Latvia / Norway / Singapore / Slovenia / Sweden / Switzerland / Taiwan / UK / USA

UPDATE:

If your practice is looking for ways to support Ukrainian architects seeking to move to the UK, the UK Architects for Ukraine form has been created by UK architects and landscape architects to match Ukrainian nationals displaced by the war with sponsors and in-person work at UK architecture practices.

There is also the Opportunities for Architects and Creators from Ukraine site and the wider Hire for Ukraine platform. We hope that these can help AD signatories take practical measures to assist Ukrainian architects and other professionals seeking refuge and employment in the UK.

It is excellent news that on 2nd February Duncan Baker MP will bring a Ten-Minute Rule Bill before parliament that will ask for the whole-life carbon emissions of buildings to be reported, and for the first time require the construction sector to set a limit for embodied carbon! You can read about his Carbon Emissions (Buildings) Bill on his blog.

If supported, this Bill could be a hugely significant step for our industry. However, Baker’s Bill requires the support of his fellow MPs immediately after the reading if it is to have a chance of proceeding to the next stage and gain a Second Reading on its route to becoming law.

It’s therefore imperative that we raise awareness of this important Bill among as many MPs as possible, and encourage them to attend its presentation. We urge all Architects Declare signatories and supporters to write to your local MP today and encourage them to support Duncan Baker’s massively important De-carbonising Bill on 2nd February. You can find your MP here.

We have vacancies on our Steering Group and are keen to recruit new members reflecting the diversity of signatory practices as we develop AD’s programme.

New members will contribute to the full range of the Steering Group’s discussions and decisions, and will also bring specific areas of expertise. We are seeking individuals with expertise in any of the following: financial management, fundraising, or communications and social media.

Please click here for the role description and details of how to apply.

With the crucial COP26 UN Climate Change Summit taking place in Glasgow, leading architectural, engineering, planning and construction companies are demanding the government introduce a carbon tax/law on ecocide to tackle the climate crisis and say VAT should also be reformed to promote refurbishment over new-build projects. Uniting as the umbrella group Built Environment Declares - in which Architects Declare is a partner - they say these changes are needed to meet the UK’s net zero carbon targets and the wider response to the climate crisis.

They are also pressing for changes to building regulations and planning systems such that:

• embodied carbon calculations and targets are mandatory at planning stage and planning authorities should have embodied carbon quotas
• embodied carbon regulated through building regulations
• post occupancy evaluation should be mandatory
• building regulations should regulate performance in-use and health and wellbeing metrics

“We are strongly committed to making changes in our own practices, but changes in regulation, taxation and legislation are essential to achieve the rapid and profound reduction in carbon emissions legislated by the UK Parliament.”

In the lead up to COP26, a survey of attitudes across UK built environment professional firms has measured the level of their concern and commitment to change. This survey was returned by over 200 UK businesses, including architects, contractors, building services, civil, and structural engineers, interior designers, landscape architects and project managers strive to “...meet the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift in our behaviour”.

The survey took the form of a questionnaire to discover the level of a signatory’s commitment to specific changes in their own practice, in regulation and in legislation. The short report and results are available here.

Architects Declare today published its Practice Guide, which we have developed to help signatory architectural practices convert their declaration of a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency into meaningful action and build momentum within their practice. Co-written by members of the Architects Declare Steering Group and many Architects Declare volunteers, and reviewed by leading industry experts, it features over 60 exemplar projects from a range of practices in the UK and abroad. We would like to thank all those involved for their dedication in producing this piece of guidance.

A live, working document, the Practice Guide helps fulfil the fourth point in Architects Declare’s 12-point declaration by encouraging the sharing of knowledge and research on an open-source basis. Part 1 of the guide is a Practice Roadmap which provides 5 simple steps to transform your business. Part 2 is a Project Design Guide focused on the fundamentals of truly sustainable design and demonstrated through exemplars. The AD Practice Guide will evolve and be refined in future iterations as our understanding of the climate and biodiversity crises develops, and as our industry innovates to find new solutions to these challenges. We will seek the support of our signatory architectural practices and others in ensuring future versions of the guide remain useful.

We launched the Guide today at the Built Environment Summit, organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects in association with Architects Declare. Announcing the Practice Guide at the Summit, Tara Gbolade of Gbolade Design Studio and a member of the Architects Declare Steering Group, said:

"Last year our signatories told us they wanted Architects Declare to be more than a moment of declaration. They wanted a supportive network that addressed the lack of knowledge and direction on this journey. We want to say ‘Thank you’ to all who contributed to it, the countless volunteers, and those who have endorsed the Guide"

The Guide is available now from the Resources (Supporting our signatories) page, along with a short form for signatories' feedback and for anyone who would like to help develop further versions of the document to register their interest.

Endorsing the Guide, Ben Derbyshire, a past president of the RIBA, said:

"Most architecture practices are small businesses for whom creating a route map to zero carbon operation and monitoring progress is a serious challenge on top of the day to day pre-occupation with project delivery. Equally well guiding our clients towards the right carbon-cutting decisions in the cost conscious and risk averse world of development is a tough ask. So the practical guidance from the Architects Declare Guide as a growing knowledge platform is a real boon for those of us wrestling with the issues."

And Jess Hrivnak, Sustainable Development Adviser with the RIBA, said:

“The Architects Declare Practice Guide is a compendium of advice for everyone, no matter the size or scale of business, on how to implement and realise the AD Declaration Points."

Architects Declare fully support the LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide and applaud the hugely talented team behind this well-timed publication. We acknowledge the importance of prioritising the retrofitting and re-use of the existing built environment over demolition and new build if we are to have any hope of meeting Net Zero Carbon targets for 2050. Whilst we appreciate the challenges that successful low carbon retrofit presents the architecture profession, like LETI, we believe that our industry has the collective knowledge and expertise to step up and meet this head-on.

With careful reasoning, backed up with meticulous research and (as with previous LETI publications) exemplary infographics, LETI provide us with the tools to deliver on ambitious Net Zero carbon targets which will not be met without carbon emissions from the UK’s 28 million homes being reduced by over 70%. LETI present us with clear working methods and explanations for ‘Why retrofit’, ‘What is Retrofit’, and ‘How we do it”, supported by accessible case studies and the brilliant “Home Retrofit Specification” for different house types. The guide makes the case for the social, health & well-being benefits of retrofit, whilst arguing the case for the huge opportunities a national retrofit programme will present the whole of the UK in the form of 100,000’s of new jobs and “a £309bn boost to the economy”.

The issue of retrofitting our homes has never been so high-profile, and recently, so controversial. Recent developments have not detracted from the fact that decarbonising our housing stock is a huge priority if we are to meet Net Zero Carbon targets and try to slow down the Climate and Ecological Emergency, whilst creating climate-resilient, healthy and affordable homes for everybody. This guide makes the case, and crucially, provides clear deliverable working methodologies that can be understood by clients, tenants and the whole design team.

The LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide was launched on 21st October 2021 is available to download here.

In today’s Fridays for Future global climate strike, architects are among those demonstrating their commitment to action on the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. A focus of this year's action is Fridays for Future's call for 'intersectional climate justice' - meaning that "the climate crisis does not exist in a vacuum. Other socio-economic crises such as racism, sexism, ableism, class inequality, and more amplify the climate crisis and vice versa."

The climate emergency is not a single issue. Different people, communities and regions experience its impacts differently. Architects Declare - a network of architectural practices committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency through an 11-point declaration - is seeking signatories’ views on a proposed twelfth point to highlight this:

Declaration on climate justice

"We will seek to - Support those who are working for climate justice and strive to ensure equity and an improved quality of life for all.”

Architects Declare launched in May 2019 with a commitment to promote and build momentum around our original 11 declaration points, and since then over 1,100 architectural practices across the UK have declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. Over time, however, it has become clear that the issue of climate justice is not sufficiently prominent and many have raised this imbalance. The increasing attention to the injustices of impacts globally - including within the UK - suggests that our declaration should redress this.

Today, while some Architects Declare signatories are supporting their employees in gathering for public events around the UK, others are making time 'in-house' to discuss and research the actions that their practices are best placed to take on our urgent priorities. We welcome whatever support practices are able to show, including to the call for climate justice as part of our response to the emergency.

Our consultation with signatories ends on 8th October and the result will be reflected in the new Architects Declare Practice Guide that we have developed to support all signatories in their actions. This will be released at the RIBA and Architects Declare Built Environment Summit on 28th & 29th October.