Episode 3 Environmentally Friendly Buildings (Part 1) | Future Buildings in Response to Climate Change

Speakers for this episode: Professor Shao Wenzheng from the Center for Innovative Green Building Materials R&D and Promotion of Beijing University of Science and Technology, Huang Xiumin, Chairman of Changyang Green Energy Co., Ltd., and Guo Yingzhao, Principal Architect of Jiudian United Architects Firm (the above order is based on the order of appearance
in the video )

Global climate events, melting glaciers, cities, heat island effects, etc. are all the impacts of climate change on the global environment. Therefore, this episode is in the form of a “Sustainable Architecture Symposium” hosted by the host Chairman Huang Xiumin and Shao Professor of Cultural Affairs and architect Guo Yingzhao jointly discussed what kind of efforts we, as architects, can make to cope with future architecture under climate change.

“Cycle” is the last piece of the puzzle of “sustainability”

The Amazon rainforest fires in 2019 burned for 16 consecutive days, burning 1.5 football fields every minute, and a total of approximately 2,474 Founding Fathers Memorial Halls were burned. The fires in Australia in the same year also burned about an area the size of 5 Sydneys, causing approximately 500 million animals died. On June 29, 2021, a heat wave hit Canada, setting the country’s highest temperature record for three consecutive days. Lipton, British Columbia, experienced a high temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius. However, the temperature in Canada has never exceeded 45 degrees in the past.

Chairman Huang Xiumin said: “Differences in building materials, the degree of reflected sunlight, fewer skin grafting areas, urban sewer systems, and the gradual reduction of surface water bodies are all factors that cause the “urban heat island effect.” As global environmental problems become increasingly severe, the impact of climate on the environment and ecology is far beyond our imagination. Therefore, in the face of climate change, we need a “climate-adjustable” building. “

Architect Guo Yingzhao also mentioned: “Climate change has a very big impact on our lives. In fact, it is difficult for every industry, including the construction industry, to look at the status of its own industry alone. It must be integrated into the entire economic system. Only by looking can you see a clearer picture.”

Solving environmental problems = green building + “circular” thinking

Guo Yingzhao Architect believes: “The earth is a closed system with so many resources. Why can the earth’s ecosystem continue to operate? The key lies in ‘circulation’.” When a person dies, he or she will decompose, and then become nutrients in nature, which can be absorbed by other animals, and then become part of the resources of the entire ecosystem. This kind of death is reborn. In fact, it is a very important way of operating nature. If we really want to be sincere in solving environmental problems, the past concept of green building is not enough. We must guide the entire thinking towards “circulation”.

Structures with a long life cycle are assembled using modules.
Therefore, architect Guo Yingzhao also mentioned possible approaches, such as building a house through the concept of “modularization”. When the life cycle of the house ends, it will not be directly abandoned. Rather, it must be dismantled and transformed into something else, so that the building materials will not be degraded or discarded, but rather upgrade and continue their value.

Within the 20-year life cycle, “lease” and “right to use”
will be used instead of “buyout”. In order to extend the value of building materials and items, Architect Guo Yingzhao proposed that “lease” and “right to use” should be used instead of “buyout” because the building There are many items with different life cycles, such as doors, windows, equipment, furniture, lamps, elevators, etc. The life cycles are about 10 to 20 years. In fact, these types of products can be used in a non-buyout manner, that is, in the form of “leasing”, replacing “ownership” with “right to use”, which is also a very important part of the concept of circular economy.

“Air” is the primary indicator in the healthy building assessment system

Professor Shao Wenzheng shared that in the past, the green building materials label was created to control pollution sources such as formaldehyde and TVOC. Now, the WELL healthy building label, which is vigorously promoted by the industry, the first and most important indicator is indoor air and quality, because air is ” Human life support system”. Many indicators of “healthy buildings” probably already include “air” first.

Professor Shao also believes that “healthy buildings” need to “breathe and ventilate” just like the human body . Because people live in a building, it is an overly closed space with a shelter. However, the current decoration materials are overly polluted, and people living in the building are too polluted. There will be harm inside. So we need to rethink buildings so that they must be ventilated and given clean sunlight, air, and water.

The interior design industry with a short life cycle is the main source of construction waste

Taiwan’s interior design industry is also quite active, ranging from commercial spaces to residential spaces. The life cycle of interior design is shorter than that of buildings. When updating an old store or moving to a new home, the original decoration will need to be dismantled, resulting in a large amount of waste. things. Architect Guo Yingzhao said: “This is not only an environmental issue, but also has a lot to do with people’s livelihood and health. From the perspective of interior decoration, let’s look at how the circular economy will operate in the future, because the life cycle of a building is long, and the shortest is 5- 60 years, or as long as a hundred years. But the life cycle of interior decoration can be as short as five years, or as long as about twenty years.”

Architect Kuo Ying-chao also shared a recent cooperation case with Taipei 101 Building, considering the demolition of decoration whenever the tenant changes. The renovation resulted in a lot of waste, so a modular strategy was adopted so that it can be completely disassembled and reused during future demolition without producing broken plywood or gypsum boards. Furniture and lighting fixtures are rented from IKEA. When damaged or old, they can be recycled. Architect Guo Yingzhao said: “This concept is not only a “resilient city”, but also a very important concept for the circular economy, which is to restore it to a state of new life. Greatly reduce the repeated exploitation of resources and allow resources to be recycled repeatedly in our cities. “

“Right of use” replaces “ownership” to change consumption behavior

Architect Guo Yingzhao said: “The biggest trap in the linear economy is that it encourages consumption, because you are buying out, so if you don’t buy, there is no economy at all. But the circular economy replaces “ownership” through “right to use”, In order to avoid damage, manufacturers must make their products more durable. Naturally, the entire consumer behavior and the entire economic activity will be completely different. “

Change starts with me

Finally, Chairman Huang Xiumin concluded: “Based on the content of today’s symposium, we should think about the environment we want to live in, and what kind of world it should be? With extreme climate causing water shortages and shrinking living space, We must rethink a new way of life to effectively reduce the cost of survival for the future of the earth and future generations. “

So we can understand that it is not just individual industries or individual buildings that can do it. Rather, the entire country, society, and people must participate together. We hope to influence the next generation and participate in this urgent survival issue through everyone’s personal actions. In addition to construction workers, everyone including industry, government, and academia must work together to do this.