Over the past seven years at MASS I am most proud of being a part of the conception, design and implementation of RICA (Rwandan Institute for Conservation Agriculture). From the outset, we focused on designing for One Health and climate positivity – resulting in a design process that pushed the boundaries of material selection, structural systems, passive systems, landscape, and site infrastructure to create an off-grid campus with radically less embodied carbon than the regional status quo – 58% less to be exact.
Great question. On RICA, we started with the ambition to source as much of the project’s material and labour as close as possible to the project. This meant material exploration, testing, and sourcing in the early days to ensure the design of the project was informed by availability from the onset, and not an afterthought. Working in a place like Rwanda has been liberating: it’s allowed me to un-learn and question the system I was educated and trained within. I now approach design with a renewed curiosity and scepticism. Why do we found our buildings with carbon-intensive concrete? Why are we insulating with petrochemicals? Why are we building with increasingly opaque, highly emissive materials and supply chains?
“I now approach design with a renewed curiosity and skepticism. Why do we found our buildings with carbon-intensive concrete? Why are we insulating with petrochemicals? Why are we building with increasingly opaque, highly emissive materials and supply chains?”
The survival of humanity seems like a pretty good value to drive change. I just cannot accept anything along the lines of ‘this is too costly’ as that is simply a misallocation of value. It’s imperative that we – architects, engineers, planners, builders etc – the people that design and implement the built environment have holistic tools that can help our clients to visualize and plan for carbon positive solutions.
Upfront emissions have come into greater focus across our industry over the past couple years, and clearly this is space where there is a great deal of innovation ahead of us. The jurisdictions that have started to set targets for future projects will be the places where the greatest innovations will no doubt occur, and I’m excited to see how quickly this can spread across the globe.
“It’s imperative that we have holistic tools that can help our clients to visualize and plan for carbon positive solutions.”
One Click LCA has been a great tool to help us assess impact throughout the design process. More recently I’ve been using it at the University of Toronto with a research studio, getting it into student’s hands early to help them make embodied carbon an integral part of their design education.
The library and link to EPDs. Its great to be able to investigate your options, and dive into specific suppliers to better understand the provenance of your specifications.
Carbon Expert of the Month is One Click LCA’s way to showcase the expertise, inspiration and best practices of One Click LCA users. Each month, we feature experts who are passionate about reducing carbon in general and from materials in particular, who seek to push projects beyond the boundaries of common practice, and who wish to share from their personal experience.