Article written by Jeffrey Harrigan, AIA LEED AP, Sr. Assoc. & Shao-Chen Lu, Assoc.
Humanity has been building for millennia. Can we imagine a world without The Pyramids, The Acropolis, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Empire State Building, Sydney Opera House, or even the humble adobe pueblo? These splendid structures are part of who we are - timeless sentinels that speak to our imagination, ingenuity, and innate collaborative capabilities.
We are always going to continue our need to build. Yet producing buildings also clearly takes a toll on the environment - by transforming the land where they are located, with the extraction and production of resources required to build them, and in the form of energy consumption for ongoing operational needs. Buildings are in no small way responsible for the impact of climate change. Our practice in New York City recognizes that buildings account for two thirds of greenhouse gas emissions. An ongoing challenge for how we build for the future is how to reconcile the need to build, yet do so in an environmentally responsible and ultimately carbon neutral way.
The design and construction community has stepped up to this challenge, producing buildings with responsibly sourced materials with high recycled content, planted roofs, reflective roofing and cladding materials (that reflects back solar radiation), solar panels, and with vastly more energy efficient lighting and mechanical systems.
And just like we pull on a sweater to stay warm, or sport a breezy Hawaiian shirt to keep cool, how we physically clad our buildings can keep us comfortable in efficient, simple and environmentally responsible ways. Gertler & Wente Architects approaches the design of all of our projects with this in mind; our residential project in Downtown Brooklyn, New York is an excellent example currently on the boards. If you’re interested in learning more about our specific tools to reduce the impact of architecture on the climate, click on the link below.