Architects Declare is a global movement that got its start in the United Kingdom. When it started in 2019, it included among the stated goals that it would “adopt more regenerative design principles in our studios, with the aim of designing architecture and urbanism that goes beyond the standard of net zero carbon in use.”

In time for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)—taking place now in Glasgow, Scotland—the organization has released a remarkable practice guide with two main parts: part 1, a guide on how to run an architectural practice, and of more general interest; part 2, a project design guide. But before that, it starts with a bang outlining the significance of the industry and its carbon footprint.

The first comment I would make is it is understating the impact of the “built environment sector” by saying it is only 40%. The vast majority of transport is a direct result of choices made about the built environment, with emissions coming from cars moving between buildings. A not small proportion of industry emissions are from making the cars and the materials that go into them and into transportation infrastructure. The true footprint of the “built environment sector” is probably closer to 75% of emissions, and we shouldn’t let the planners and the engineers off easy here. They also list some “killer facts” and don’t mention steel, which has as big an impact as concrete.

The Architects Declare (AD) Steering Group notes the profession isn’t doing enough.

This is such an important point, and it is not new. Professor John Robinson of University of British Columbia’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) said it years ago and is worth repeating:

As we have noted previously, regenerative design is hard. I wrote in a 2019 post: “You have to build with renewable materials that are carefully harvested and replanted (which is why we love wood). We have to stop using fossil fuels to heat and cool and get to them, we have to stop wasting water, and we have to plant like mad to make more wood and suck up more CO2.”

That is why part 2 of the document is so important. It starts with more explanation of regenerative design. Architect and co-author of Cradle to Cradle once described sustainable design as “100% less bad.” He also joked years ago about how boring and meaningless the word sustainable is, saying, “Who would want simply a ‘sustainable’ marriage? Humans can certainly aspire to more than that.” This is certainly what Architects Declare is aspiring to:

The document then gets into detail about:

  • Energy, whole live carbon, and circularityEmbodied carbonCircularity and wasteRetrofitMaterialsOperational energy and carbonLow energy services and renewables

Then there are sections on ecology, biodiversity, water, climate justice, community, health, resilience. It covers everything—I might well use it as my textbook for my lectures in sustainable design after I get the university to change the course title to regenerative design. It’s a remarkable document that concludes with an appendix, pages long, with valuable links and terrific resources that I will be referring to often. And inspiring words from the conclusion:

The problem with architecture is that it takes so long; when this year’s Stirling Prize winner was criticized for not being particularly sustainable, the response was “hey, we started this in 2013.” That’s why architects, planners, engineers, and regulators have to stop talking about the next decade and start dealing with the issues right now. And Architects Declare has just delivered the program.

Download the Practice Guide here.