The built environment needs a radical transformation.

All of us have probably heard someone else talking about carbon emissions, excessive consumer patterns, energy production crisis and extinction of renewable resources. The most important thing about this is to understand the urgent need of switching from these patterns to more sustainable ones in all aspects of our lives. As architects, one of our social responsibilities is the transformation of the built environment, which in my opinion needs to be radical at this point to address these issues. As does the change in people’s minds and the only way to achieve that is through trust and education within society. That is a huge concept worth exploring much deeper, but here I would like to use it in the sense of saying that everything we were taught is being reflected in the crisis we are facing at the moment. In the same way, the education and trust principles we provide to the coming generations will determinate the best path to follow. So sustainable consumption patterns, rational use of energy and any other aspects of a sustainable lifestyle is what we need to put into practice, including trust and share with others as one day this pattern will have to be something innate in ourselves.

Strongly linked to trust and education is another key concept which is both the reason for the crisis but at the same time a way out of it, and that is innovation. We have managed to create objects, mechanisms, technologies and buildings that are polluting our world and absorbing all our non-renewable resources as supposedly the only way of making our lives easier or more comfortable. In a way they have, but the environmental price we are paying for it is immeasurable. We have not made radical transformation in time, so now we’ll have to move faster to be saved from catastrophe. Innovation then can be understood as transformation, to do things for the same purpose but in a more efficient and way, to think differently. This concept has made us realise an exciting junction point of opportunities, a point from which, in my opinion, some people have already moved forward but there are still millions to spread the message to.

In building I think there are three possible options to incorporate these patterns:

1. In new building. What we build today will still be around us in 2050, a time where the world will have to have changed – radically. So there is an opportunity to start from scratch by incorporating stronger sustainable design principles, non-(or very low) polluting technologies and construction materials which are already available in the market and moreover showing continuous improvements.

2. Existing buildings. 80% of the buildings we will be using in 2050 are already built, and these are the buildings we must address now. It is very clear this is a large scale of sustainable refurbishment but it is possible to start working on them now.

3. Use of energy by property users. New design ideas, technologies and materials on their own will not be enough to achieve an Energy efficient building; they need to work in conjunction with a common, clear and rational concept of energy consumption by the users.

At David Le Lay we have already started to be part of these changes. Working on existing properties and conservation projects mainly, we have had the opportunity to carry out all sort of changes in different buildings, things like improving the use of natural light as much as possible, specifying a maximum possible thermal insulation where needed and construction materials produced from renewable resources, clean technologies, timber products coming from certificated eco-forestry, natural paints with a minimum chemical content, and hundreds of other changes, which when considered as a whole they make a substantial reduction on the environmental impact of the building.

Architects who believe in sustainability and their multidisciplinary teams would like to see more commitment and support from the government and the general public, to be able to direct the changes in the built environment through innovation and in the same way to reflect social transformation in buildings.

Guillermo Sanmiguel