AIA delegates at COP27 provide key takeaways from the conference

Submitted by ce8f442d-41a9-… on Tue, 11/29/2022 - 17:50
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"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"How did COP27 change your approach to addressing the\nclimate crisis?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Erica Cochran Hameen"],[0,[],0,": I was always excited about\nidentifying ways architects can contribute to helping reduce climate change,\nbut going to COP made me feel even more hopeful because of the fact I was\naround 33,000 others who have the same goal. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It made me feel hopeful that I had the opportunity to have\ninterdisciplinary conversations with different stakeholders from different\nprofessions and across different regions and learn what they\u2019re doing. It was\nbeneficial to share best practices and share challenges that we\u2019ve faced and\nreceive best practices and solutions to challenges that people in other places\nhave faced. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Illya Azaroff"],[0,[],0,": I don\u2019t think attending COP changed my\napproach, but it reinforced some things and revealed some things. We must look\ntoward the future, and the immediate impacts of climate on society and people\nin places is the majority of my work, so to hear that reinforced at COP27 was\nwonderful. So many people are suffering from the effects of climate change on a\ndaily basis. They\u2019re losing everything from their people, to their place, their\neconomy, and their history, so to hear this acknowledged was a good step. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"How did you personally advocate for the importance of\narchitects in fighting climate change globally?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Illya"],[0,[],0,": When I told people that we were there\nrepresenting the American Institute of Architects, the largest professional\nbody of design in the world with 94,000 members, you\u2019d hear gasps. The follow\nup was always \u201carchitects play an incredible role in this fight.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Anytime we\u2019d meet someone they\u2019d tell us that we play an\nimportant role in this. To me that was extremely important. I was asked to join\nsome panels based on the fact that I represented architects and we represent\nthe built environment. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Erica"],[0,[],0,": I spoke on a panel about psychology,\narchitecture, and climate change. I talked about the connection between the\nbuilt environment and how it impacts people. When we talk about climate change\nwe often talk about kilowatt hours and carbon emissions. We put them in these\nnumbers that are often abstract, but what I wanted to do was to talk\nspecifically about how buildings contribute to climate change and how it\nimpacts people. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"People are spending 95% of our time indoors, that\u2019s a big\ncontributor to our health. Architects have a critical role in that, it\u2019s a huge\nresponsibility. I break that down into five metrics of indoor environmental\nquality: spatial quality, acoustic quality, thermal quality, lighting quality,\nand air quality, and then I discuss how each relates to people. The type of\nmechanical system in your building and your ventilation system will impact\nupper respiratory illnesses. The circulation of air is important, but what\nhappens when air outside is bad due to climate change? That hurts people. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"If we as architects can help get buildings to net-zero, then\nwe can help stop climate change. 40 percent of emissions come from buildings,\nin major cities 70-80 percent come from buildings. One big way to get that done\nis to get our buildings to net-zero. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"If you worked on a building and walk away when it\u2019s done,\nyou haven\u2019t done your job. The only way to know if you did your job well is to\ndo a post-occupancy evaluation. You don\u2019t know if your design solutions are\nright or wrong until people move in and you measure it. I\u2019d love for there to\nbe further discussions about the importance of indoor environmental quality so\nwe can continue to make improvements to the wellbeing of people."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"What are some elements of COP27 that made you hopeful\nabout the societal approach to the climate crisis?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Illya"],[0,[],0,": I quite frankly don\u2019t think our approach is\nstrong enough. We can\u2019t continue to do\nbusiness as usual and pay lip service to goals without following through and\nmeeting those goals through serious action. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve experienced\nthrough the last 26 COP\u2019s. We\u2019ve had 26 of these and global warming has\ncontinued and there have been a series of disasters for people around the\nworld. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"If there is a hope, it\u2019s that the syntax has changed. It\u2019s\nchanged to acknowledge the need for action in the immediate time frame to slow\ndown the deleterious effects of climate migration and impacts. Another hopeful element\nis the Sustainable Development Goals that we\u2019ve been working on around the\nworld. At this COP, the IPCC released the new climate resilient development\ngoals that are really about adaptation. The form that it takes is called the "],[0,[1],1,"Sharm-El-Sheikh\nAdaptation Agenda"],[0,[],0," and it\u2019s geared at protecting billions of climate\nvulnerable citizens through adaptation starting today. I was thrilled to see\nrecognition that people are at risk today and that needs to be addressed, in\naddition to reducing carbon and greenhouse gasses. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"You do need COP, it\u2019s important to have a platform where\nnation states can gather and share goals and information, but how do you\nenforce those goals? That\u2019s never clear. The intermediaries to make that\nimplementation happen are really lacking. I hope people recognize that the\nglobal financing is there and the commitment to meet goals and targets for\ngreenhouse gas reduction and resilient building capacity are there. But to make\nthose two ends meet, it\u2019s the middle piece that is lacking. The thing that\nneeds more effort is the proof that we\u2019re going to do what we say we\u2019re going\nto do. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Erica"],[0,[],0,": Seeing people from so many countries\nparticipating was eye-opening. It showed me how many people are trying to\naddress this situation. It was great to see organizations, governments,\nacademics, and others all working together towards this goal. It was also great\nto see a lot of college students and young people who are excited about finding\nsolutions. Seeing how young people connect the dots between climate change,\nsustainability, equity, ecology, and our future was wonderful to see. To see\ncollege students so engaged was very exciting. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Who were some of the most\ninspiring people at COP27? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Erica"],[0,[],0,": Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an environmental\nactivist from Chad, was especially inspiring. She spoke about indigenous people\nand kept reminding us that indigenous people aren\u2019t victims, but rather\nsolutions. She emphasized the need to talk to indigenous people and focus on\nutilization of passive solutions, which are things we can do to impact climate\nchange. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As architects, the first thing we should do when trying to\nbe energy efficient is use passive solutions. Make your building not need as\nmuch energy to begin with, and then bring in solar panels and other technology\nto become net-zero. She spoke on a panel called \u201cIndigenous Knowledge on Global\nClimate Science Policy and Action with a woman named Wahleah Johns, Director of\nthe U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. They\nboth spoke about how indigenous knowledge might not be in a textbook, but it\u2019s\nbeen passed down and they\u2019re still experts in a field. That was very inspiring\nto me. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Illya"],[0,[],0,": There were so many great people and great\nspeeches at COP, some from the most humble places that have been impacted by\nclimate change. Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr from Freetown, Sierra Leone was so\nhonest about bringing community into the fight for climate adaptation and\nresilience and how difficult that can be. She was one of the people who made me\nrealize why we need COP because you had someone representing the honest truth\nabout what is needed in the climate change fight."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"What would you like to see at COP28?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Erica"],[0,[],0,": I hope AIA continues to participate. I\u2019d love\nto see AIA participate in more panels and discussions. Buildings are critical\nto solving this problem and we need to help others understand what we as\narchitects can contribute to the climate change crisis. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Illya"],[0,[],0,": I\u2019d like to see examples of implementation\naround the world represented by those who made the implementation. I want a\nreal discussion on how we can share that knowledge that impacts real climate\naction immediately. I heard a lot of talk about that, but the I only saw a few\nexamples. I\u2019d like to see deeper pieces. "]]]]}
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For the second year in a row, AIA sent delegates to COP27 to collaborate on ways to combat the climate crisis.
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AIA delegates at COP27 provide key takeaways from the conference
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COP27, Erica Cochran Hameen, Illya Azaroff, climate change
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