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The UK Government’s pledge to ‘build, build, build’ presents a challenge for architecture and construction as it looks to balance demand for new buildings with the critical need to reduce its environmental impact. A £3bn green investment package to improve the environmental impact of existing homes and public sector buildings was a welcome addition to the Government’s Summer Statement.

Now more than ever, architecture must be at the forefront of innovation in order to meet net-zero carbon emission targets for 2050 and deliver a level of social impact fit for 2020.

Evolving design processes

Lockdown measures led to a sudden, sharp decline in carbon emissions of up to 25% in April. However, any long-term improvement is likely to be negligible, with studies indicating that global heating will be cut by just 0.01C by 2030. Economy-wide change is still needed to meet net-zero emission goals by 2050 and, with buildings and construction accounting for 40% of global carbon output, architecture is no exception.

Artificial Intelligence and modern design tools can offer support in reducing the environmental impact of new buildings. Genetic algorithms, a computational design technique based on evolutionary biology, can ‘evolve’ a design into its most successful form. The technology, inspired by Darwinian natural selection, could be used to modify a design in order to achieve greater energy efficiency, for instance. By utilising a nonlinear process that mimics nature, multiple parameters can be tested that ultimately lead to better solutions.

Genetic Algorithms are particularly effective in designing buildings for offsite construction, which is itself a less wasteful and more efficient design process. For instance, homes constructed through modular manufacturing can be assembled in as little as three days, requiring up to 67% less energy to produce compared to buildings constructed using traditional practices, and up to 90% throughout the building’s life cycle.

However, modular housing projects such as astudio’s Desborough Road scheme, which will provide 58 units of modular accommodation for vulnerable people and rough sleepers in Buckinghamshire, won’t just reduce the environmental impact of the built environment. The accelerated timeline that modular construction offers delivers vital accommodation at pace and minimises vehicle traffic onsite, significantly improving the social impact of such projects.

Improving impact throughout a project lifecycle

Rather than calculating environmental impact late in a project lifecycle, this should be at the centre of the agenda throughout the design process if we are to create future-proof buildings that reflect today’s environmental pressures.

Modern tools, such as parametric-enabled software plug-ins like Grasshopper, can be used to test designs in real-time, assess the financial and environmental cost of materials and analyse the impact that it will have on its surroundings. Utilising such tools, astudio’s Ebury Bridge Estate regeneration project in Westminster, London, is aiming to reduce the site’s carbon emissions by 90%, for instance.

Alongside reducing the environmental impact of our future buildings, we must also consider solutions for future-proofing existing homes, commercial buildings and public sector estates. astudio – the first UK architecture firm to purchase an algae machine from US pioneer Sustainable Now Technologies – has worked closely with Brunel University to develop research and development living wall technologies that allows building exteriors to be skinned with algae compounds, which  sequester existing carbon compounds form the atmosphere. As the algae grows, it can be harvested to produce sustainable biofuel, providing a green energy source that could prove revolutionary for sustainability in our cities.

Buildings for people

There is a pressing need to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. However, to create buildings that are fit for the modern age, it is equally as important to consider social impact.

As well as powering a more agile approach for design, virtual reality technologies and software, can vastly improve the public consultation process by allowing stakeholders to experience an immersive walkthrough of a building before the foundations have even been laid, empowering people to suggest changes that would better serve the needs of the community. Particularly when designing public realm schemes and community spaces, these visualisation tools can introduce greater agility, ensure transparency, and aid communication between all parties to ensure buildings and spaces meets expectations for all.

A greater focus on innovative construction processes, including Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) such as modular manufacturing, will play a significant role improving the social impact of our developments in the coming years. astudio’s Desborough Road project is an example of just this. The project will deliver 70 new units for the homeless in High Wycombe, providing new housing stock close by to local amenities such as healthcare and schools.

However, with the housing shortage thought to be in excess of one million homes, a third of local authorities missing their house building targets last year, and COVID-19 having hampered productivity across construction sites, there is a clear need for more projects focused on delivering the buildings our communities need, while maintaining efforts to improve sustainability.

Economic struggles caused by the pandemic will only exacerbate the housing crisis, while heightened health concerns will only accelerate demand for greater environmentally-friendly and sustainable practices. As we recover, addressing the environmental impact of our built environment is vital. However, only by turning to innovations – from MMC, to living walls and genetic algorithms – can we design and create the future-proof buildings that put people and the planet first.

By Richard Hyams, Founder and Director of astudio