Sustainability
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Categories: Sustainability
5 Stunning Low or Zero Energy Buildings
The built environment contributes to nearly half of all global CO2 emissions each year. The lion’s share of this environmental impact belongs to the day-to-day running and energy needs of our buildings such as homes, offices, schools, or hospitals: The building operations, including their energy consumption, accounts for approximately 27 percent of the world’s annual CO2 emissions. […]
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Categories: Urbanization
Urban Rewilding: How These 5 Cities Brought Nature Back to the City
Due to the skyrocketing urbanization, industrialization, and population growth globally, our planet is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate, faster than at any time in human history. Since the beginning of the 20th century, as the cities kept booming, the average population of indigenous species in the majority of significant ecosystems has declined by […]
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Categories: Sustainability
How Buildings Can Contribute to Urban Biodiversity
“It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth,” says the legendary natural historian and broadcaster David Attenborough. However, as cities claim an increasing amount of land and resources, rapid urbanization is one of the significant drivers of biodiversity loss […]
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Categories: Architecture
From Trash to Treasure: 4 Facades From Recycled Materials
Over the last decades, sustainability has become one of the most defining forces across all industries, and architecture is no exception. A growing number of architectural firms and practitioners aspire for their buildings to be as green as possible. To do so, they utilize new digital technologies, innovations, and materials — and also tap into their own […]
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Categories: Architecture
How Indigenous Wisdom Can Inform Modern Architecture
The greatest injustice of climate change is the fact that those who are most vulnerable to it are the people who contributed the least — such as the indigenous communities around the world. On the other hand, these communities also have the wisdom, experience, and the technologies to construct buildings in a way to minimize the notoriously high environmental impact of […]
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Categories: Sustainability
Beyond Timber: 5 Natural Construction Materials for Sustainable Homes
As a material, concrete has been the backbone of the modern construction industry thanks to its versatile and durable nature. It’d be hard to imagine the 20th century without concrete. However, there’s also a rising awareness about concrete’s significant adverse environmental impacts: Cement is the source of about eight percent of global carbon emissions. The construction and demolition of […]
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Categories: Urbanization
Here’s Why Japan Decided to Build Smart Cities From Scratch
Japan is arguably going through the biggest demographic challenge of modern history. After lingering around zero growth at the beginning of the 21st century, Japan‘s population has continued to shrink since 2010, with the decline rate accelerating in recent years. In 2022, the island nation, with a population of about 125 million, recorded its largest decline due to the combination […]
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Categories: Urbanization
Toward a Circular Future: Can We Recycle Skyscrapers?
Our built environment is one of the top contributors to climate change, currently generating about 40 percent of annual global emissions. As the world needs 13,000 buildings a day to keep up with the ongoing demand due to rapid urbanization and population growth, some of these buildings are also inevitably getting old and are in need of replacement. When a building […]
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Categories: Architecture
How Green Building Technologies Are Transforming Home Construction
Our built environment generates about 40 percent of the global carbon emissions. Almost a quarter of this comes from operational emissions, such as the energy needed to heat, cool, and run our buildings, while the remaining quarter is from materials and construction. Cement, the most ubiquitous material used in most modern buildings, is responsible for a total […]
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Categories: Urbanization
Pedestrian Paradises: Top 4 Car-Free Urban Areas in the World
Personal car ownership has defined many aspects of modern urban life as we know it. Without a doubt, cars can bring great convenience, comfort, individual freedom, and opportunities to their owners. On the other hand, cars require an enormous amount of resources, both in terms of manufacturing and everyday use. In addition to being one of […]
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Categories: Urbanization
How These Urban Areas Reduced Traffic Congestion
Despite the historic decrease in traffic congestion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, private car ownership is skyrocketing. The dynamics that exacerbate traffic congestion, longer wait times, or poorer air quality show no signs of slowing down. Thanks to the rising population and urbanization, traffic congestion will likely remain a major concern in most cities worldwide. Nevertheless, some urban areas […]
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Categories: Urbanization
“Fifteen-Minute City”: An Urban Concept That Might Change How We Live
Throughout history, diseases and pandemics always had a tendency to shape and inform the development of our built environment – and the COVID-19 pandemic was no exception. As the lockdowns forced millions of city dwellers worldwide to adapt to a hyper-local life for months at a time, an increasing number of urbanists started to understand the importance of accessibility […]
