Buildings Breakthrough for Net Zero and Resilient Buildings: Solutions for Effective Transformation

Effective climate action requires transformative changes in our built environment, and exchanging knowledge and best practices about how to achieve more efficient and resilient buildings is an essential ingredient for such action. At this event, experts in designing, building, and regulating these structures came together to explore the most effective means of scaling up built-environment solutions to deliver on climate ambitions.

Moderator Nasra Nanda, Chair of the Africa Regional Network and Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Green Building Society, opened the event by stressing that while the Global North often leads on setting standards and on technologies, the Global South has a strength in building resilience and adaptation with resourceful and context-specific solutions. Nanda set the scene for the panel discussion by emphasizing the need to “create inclusive strategies” and to “challenge ourselves in understanding what the North can learn from the South.”

In opening remarks, Gulnara Roll, Head of Secretariat, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), highlighted that GlobalABC aims to bring the “voice of the South first” in its projects in Africa, Asia, South America, and elsewhere. Roll stressed that the world is not achieving its Paris Agreement ambitions and that data and tracking on emissions, energy consumption, and efficiency are critical in order to move forward. She highlighted the need to strengthen collaboration between national and local levels and to create quantifiable goals to make Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) “investable and clear” in order to mobilize finance.

Kicking off the panel discussion, Illya Azaroff, American Institute of Architects (AIA), emphasized that “we are all weathering the same storm” and that a path to a resilient future means helping communities restore and rebuild through “whole society engagement.” Azaroff underscored that it is important to work hand in hand with communities to ensure that built environments are equitable. He noted that as climate disasters are expected to increase in frequency, governments and communities must collaborate and that political advocacy, educational resources, and community engagement are essential.

Judy Zakreski, International Code Council (ICC), highlighted ICC’s work to facilitate the development of building codes and standards aimed at safety and affordability. Zakreski emphasized that compliance solutions must be considered holistically within a regulatory context and must reflect local needs. She pointed to a typology of buildings created by the International Building Quality Centre, which encourages thinking about codes and regulations in terms of different types of construction: engineered, vernacular, and informal. Zakreski said enhancing capacity must be supported when codes and standards are adopted and that resilience is an essential consideration in holistic approaches to regulating built environments.

Mina Hasman, Co-Chair of Climate Action Expert Advisory Group, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), highlighted RIBA’s work to develop a Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard with a single methodology, which can be a “blueprint” for carbon assessments. Hasman underscored that the standard, which is voluntary, is aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal and sets benchmarks that are verifiable on an annual basis. The standard is aimed at a wide range of stakeholders, from designers to investors and policymakers.

Alex Liu, Americas Region ESG Manager, Delta Electronics, stressed the importance of energy efficiency in buildings, which is a focus of the Delta Electronics Foundation. He noted projects have included rebuilding schools after typhoons and earthquakes and building “green data centers.” Liu stressed the need for energy management, “which becomes the biggest challenge” for achieving and sustaining net-zero buildings, particularly as artificial intelligence and other technologies create new energy demands. This challenge can also be a solution, Liu noted, as it pushes companies to create more energy efficient technologies and to push cooling solutions.

In a second round of interventions, panelists focused on the challenges of unlocking finance for built-environment solutions, noting the need to think first about people and their livelihoods and for more actionable data.

Azaroff said that the tremendous wealth of Indigenous communities must be properly evaluated in order to change the “thinking in the financial stack.” He urged creating “true equity” and to see resilience and sustainability as “two sides of the same coin.” Azaroff also stressed that traditional building techniques stretching back over the generations often withstand disasters far better than modern building techniques. He called for embracing “a different ethos of how to design and create resilient futures.”

Hasman stressed that solutions must be “hyperlocal” and that finance needs to be curated to local contexts. She pointed to tools such as the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard that can be used to channel investments. Hasman emphasized that knowledge comes before skills and that all too often people are not speaking the same language about how to build capacity. She pointed to the work of the Climate Framework to foster literacy about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of built environments.

Liu pointed to traditional wisdom at the local level as something that is often overlooked, noting that COP 30 could help shine the spotlight on that wisdom as a key resource for built environments.

Zakreski stressed that “every COP should be a finance COP,” with finance and just transition being key drivers for transformational change. She urged respectful and collaborative approaches to the Global South to “enable locally led adaptation that is emboldened by local data.” She pointed to the finance process as “murky” and urged easing access to these financial flows.

During a question and answer session, Hasman noted that the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard is in a period of testing and refinement and that the ambition is to bring it into regulations. Zakreski stressed the centrality of the people living in built-environments and that there are no “one-size-fits-all” solutions.

In closing, panelists stressed, inter alia, the need for: more comprehensive measures to track the performance of buildings; collaboration and knowledge-sharing; not forcing Global North solutions on the Global South, and for humility, compassion, and respect in this relationship; and scaling up adaptation finance.

Nanda closed the event by noting that the world stands “at a crossroads with the opportunity to shape spaces, cities, and communities that could be models of resilience and inclusivity to ensure no one is left behind.”

Organizer: Delta Electronics Foundation

Contact: Claire Huang | claire.huang@deltaww.com

Website: https://www.deltaww.com/