CIBSE 125 | FUTURE TRENDS BUILDINGS FOR THE FUTURE Future structures will be carbon negative, climate resilient and integrated into the local community, according to engineers and sustainability experts at Buro Happold. They tell Andy Pearson why the next generation of buildings must be designed today W hat will the building of the future be like? The climate crisis is bringing new and evolving challenges to the way we live, work and build. The changing climate is shifting the parameters for urban design and building performance: communities, infrastructure and built assets will have to be increasingly resilient to enable them to cope with higher temperatures, increased wind speeds, more intense rainfall and the associated risk of flooding. Construction has a leading role to play in minimising the impact of the climate crisis but construction, too, will need to change. It currently contributes more than 23% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for more than 30% of global resource consumption. Many buildings currently being designed will not be occupied until 2035 or even 2040, so how will the industry bring about positive social, economic and environmental change? Climate resilience Buro Happold has won Consultancy of the Year (over 300 employees) at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards for the past five years. We asked experts at the firm what will make a resilient building and community in the future. If you were to plot on a map the areas of high heat risk, and then add the areas where there is likely to be future flooding, you are left with a much smaller part of the world where it is actually feasible to be building, says Nancy Wood, associate director, sustainability and physics. Mark Dowson, associate director, says climate resilience is becoming increasingly important for buildings, and adds: The commercial realestate sector is taking resilience very seriously at the moment, with the new Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures requirements. Fergus Anderson, sustainability and environment associate, explains that a resilient building is one that is net positive energy, net zero water and future-proofed against issues of resource scarcity. By doing these things, you are making your building more resilient against future geopolitical tensions and the challenges associated with resource flows, he says. There is the need to design for the different shocks and stresses that well see as the climate changes through rising temperatures and extreme weather events. Sustainability consultant Martha Dillon says designers should be thinking about what happens to buildings when they start to degrade, so that they can be adapted. Maybe we need to think about a modular approach and access for maintenance becoming a much bigger part of a design than it has been, she says. Embodied carbon As buildings become more energy efficient in operation, the carbon embodied in the structure and plant is increasingly significant. Anderson says embodied carbon should be brought into Building Regulations. Dillon is part of the Buro Happold 28 June 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE June 22 pp28-31 Buro Happold future trends.indd 28 27/05/2022 17:02