The Technology That Could Turn Buildings Into Climate-Fighting Tools
At COP26, the design firm SOM presented a proposal called Urban Sequoia that envisions buildings that can capture more carbon than they emit.
At COP26, designers with Skimore, Owings & Merrill introduced the firm’s vision for carbon net-negative architecture.
Rendering: SOM
For the last two decades, the building industry has been working to bring down the carbon costs associated with structures and materials. The building sector accounts for a huge share of carbon emissions, so decisions about materials and engineering have big consequences for the climate. That’s especially true as more of the world’s population exits rural poverty for urban areas.
One global design firm says that designers need to go beyond the existing “net zero” efficiency goals targeted by groups like the World Green Building Council. For the next two decades, the industry should look to make structures that consume more carbon than they produce, according to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The idea is to elevate materials, technologies and strategies that can turn buildings at all scales into net-negative carbon emitters, turning cities into effective carbon sinks.