For the first in a new six-part series on materials, Hattie is joined by co-host Joe Jack Williams to interview Martha Lewis, head of materials at Danish practice Henning Larsen.
Lewis argues that a baseline of health and environmental impacts should inform material specification, and explains why a holistic approach is essential to navigate the nuances of material selection. She describes how the European focus on life cycle analysis and the Global Warming Potential of materials is starting to be integrated with the earlier American focus on healthy materials and toxic chemical content.
‘The glut of information is a challenge of our time. How do we navigate too much information to make the right decisions?’ asks Lewis. She advocates for material passports which would consolidate the relevant data needed to make informed decisions: carbon emissions, chemical content and circularity. She also argues that certification schemes, despite their weaknesses, are the most effective route to ensuring that a project delivers on its sustainability aspirations.
Also in this episode, Lewis describes Unboxing Carbon, a database with an accompanying course which she has developed to upskill architects on the carbon aspects of material selection. Lewis has rolled out Unboxing Carbon across Henning Larsen’s 700-strong practice and also offers it to external practices.
For show notes and to catch up on all AJ Climate Champions episodes, click here.
Danish architect Lone Feifer on ‘absolute’ sustainability
Hawkins\Brown’s Louisa Bowles on what net zero actually means
Editional Studio on persuading domestic clients to build less and retrofit more
Bob Prewett explains why Passivhaus is often too much for heritage buildings
ACAN founding member Sara Edmonds on ramping up domestic retrofit
John Christophers on his zero carbon home, which generates a 40% energy surplus
Lessons from AHMM’s Stirling Prize-winning Burntwood School building performance study
Judit Kimpian on why building performance studies are crucial for net zero
AKT II’s Hanif Kara on CLT virtue signalling, concrete innovations and Bloomberg’s embodied carbon
Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum on why the climate crisis is not a north-south problem
Philippe Madec on combining sustainable development with Frampton’s critical regionalism
How France is pioneering contemporary architecture built from straw, hemp and thatch
Why France is increasingly building with bio-renewable materials – with Dominique Gauzin-Müller
Justin McGuirk on the Design Museum’s Waste Age exhibition and Kat Scott on the Architects Declare Practice Guide
Rachel Hoolahan on material passports for retrofit
Duncan Baker-Brown on mining the Anthropocene
COP26: Glasgow‘s plans for carbon neutrality by 2030 + ACAN‘s COP26 fringe activism
COP26 pop-up activism and Glasgow’s new climate resilient public realm
RIBA Climate Special with Simon Allford and Gary Clark
The 21st-century village: Sarah Featherstone and Jennifer Ross on VeloCity
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