I am a registered architect. As an active contributor to one of the most damaging industries to our climate (construction & building systems), I often daydream about pivoting careers into something more productive for the planet. I’m not talking about stuff like green washing or ~LEED accreditation~. Even sustainably-focused jobs are hard to come by and usually pretty regionally specific. Architects have a broad set of skills, and it’s not always clear where I can take those skills and put them to better use.
Any thoughts/insight would be appreciated as I hop into my mid-life crisis before 30.
Sorry if I’m being naive.
Would you not have the most climate-positive impact by stating in architect and pushing more climate-positive design and construction as much as you can?
Not naive at all! That is a genuinely good question with a rather dissatisfying answer: it depends. ‘Most’ is the tricky word there. It feels a bit like recycling, where you make it a habit but it isn’t always easy to see the benefits of the effort, if that makes sense. The work is bound by the client and the code, and the client is usually mostly concerned with the budget. I always make an effort to push better materials and practices, while also going above and beyond on building envelope and HVAC systems to make the houses I design as efficient as possible, then pricing comes in and a lot of that is the first to go. I’m probably doing the most I can at my current job. I could probably do more at a more climate positive firm (not always easy depending on location). I might be able to do a lot more abandoning the mainstream practice of architecture altogether and finding a job that utilizes at least some of my existing skillset, but what that means isn’t always clear. Hope that answered your question! Apologies for rambling
Maybe there is some aspect of architecture that can combine making things cheaper and more sustainable? Like designing low cost and energy efficient pre-fab houses for example?
My thoughts too. Every month a new house is built in my neighborhood, and almost every time they chop down a shade-giving, 150-year-old tree.
Maybe you could commit (and convince your peers) to design buildings around the trees, and in other environmentally-friendly ways (supporting clean runoff water, re-wilding as much as possible, green roofs etc)?
You could probably figure out ways to build houses to make it harder to chop down trees in the future. That would be cool.
You could also put your skills to work on larger levels. There’s an awesome example in Seattle called the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel, where two major apartment buildings flank an urban green space that’s designed specifically to restore the water quality of a previously degraded urban stream. It’s already resulting in salmon rebounding in the area. Do/advocate for more stuff like that!
https://www.seattle.gov/util/cs/groups/public/documents/webcontent/spu01_006146.pdf
Is there a set of standard guidelines for people who are retrofitting their own houses to use to make them as energy efficient as possible?
When I briefly looked into the space, nothing seemed accessible, lots of snake oil selling of products, but no overarching wiki energy doing cost comparison of each solution. Especially given that different markets have different item costs
two areas to look into – for the low tech approach, traditional building in your area and passive solar building – for the high tech approach, Passive House
for actual application, usually more a matter of focusing on generalizations
- insulation (and superinsulation) – thick walls, extra insulation, air gaps, double- or triple-pane windows
- avoiding thermal bridges – ie. direct connections between inside and outside allowing heat to conduct into the house in summer or escape the house in winter
- thermal masses (“heat batteries”) – thick slabs to store heat during the day and release it at night
- window overhangs that still allow natural sunlight in winter but shade windows in summer
To be honest, cost wise there are going to be big differences between regions. However what I learned from my own house improvement journey, the first step is insulation, always insulate as much as possible. Next up with insulation is ventilation, to make sure the air is clean for you to breathe. The the next step is looking into how much heating/cooling is still needed. And check if you can use a heat pump or aircon efficiently. And then when you know your energy need you can add solar. Although that can also be useful earlier in the process. But the first step is always insulation since it reduses your need for energy immediately and is usually one of the cheaper options.
- architectural programs and regulations in EU are a lot more focused on sustainability (and even for foreigners, education is MUCH cheaper in EU than US if you want to upgrade your degrees)
- Passive House / Passivhaus
- passive solar building
- natural building
- A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs
- Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, Julia Watson
- Architecture Without Architects, Bernard Rudofsky
- Sprawl Repair Manual, Galina Tachieva
- Architecture for the Poor, Hassan Fathy
I always thought that architecture can play an interesting part in helping plan designs for affordable and regenerative housing. Most of the current designs are pretty shoddy because of the available materials, but some out-of-the-box thinking or maybe even rescuing some ancestral or aboriginal techniques could be really appreciated to find new ways to solve housing, water management, ergonomic design, leveraging social housing, etc.
I personally think you’ve chosen a real cool profession.
One option is to go into government. If you’ve put effort in already into alternative materials and sustainable practises, then you probably already know what the blockers are to adoption. Asking for regulations on housing efficiency and materials choice can improve the situation greatly.
There’s a real dearth of sustainable architecture jobs. I’d be really tempted to stick with it and talk to people about adopting some of the lower-embedded-carbon steel and concretes that are coming to market, as well as pushing sustainable design. It’s tough, but there continues to be a need for both new buildings and retrofit of existing ones.
Hey there. As a non-architect interested in self-built housing, I found the barefoot architect quite interesting. I see this book as grassroot, community oriented architecture and urban planification (on a small scale). Maybe you’ll find some inspiration here?
Also, I don’t know where you’re from, but in some countries legislation makes it mandatory to have and architect review what you plan to build - maybe with your expertise and your ability to sign construction plans, you could assist self-builders in their projects?
