Taking Climate Action: Two Examples in the Building Design and Construction Industry | Kingspan US

Buildings contribute roughly 40% of global CO2 emissions that are damaging to the environment and human health. That statistic points to an urgent imperative for all stakeholders in the building design and construction (BD&C) industry to take meaningful action now to address the climate crisis.

With no time to waste, industry stakeholders across the BD&C sector are advancing initiatives to mitigate the impact of buildings on climate change. Separate programs in progress at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Kingspan are excellent examples of this.

The AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence and Kingspan’s Planet Passionate sustainability program demonstrate how the power of good design plus the power of sustainable business operations and products are both helping create a decarbonized built environment and a more circular world.

Here’s a closer look at how this is happening.

In 2019, the AIA adopted the Framework for Design Excellence. This comprehensive framework was developed to guide architects as they design for the communities of tomorrow. Comprised of 10 principles and accompanied by searching questions, “the framework informs progress toward a zero-carbon, healthy, just, resilient, and equitable built environment” according to the AIA.

This initiative helps integrate circularity, resiliency and innovation throughout the design process and is relevant to projects “regardless of size, typology, or aspiration.”

According to the AIA, the following 10 principles make up the Framework for Design Excellence:

• Design for Integration – Good design elevates any project, no matter how small, with a thoughtful process that delivers both beauty and function in balance.
• Design for Equitable Communities – Good design positively impacts the future by helping communities thrive socially, economically, and environmentally.
• Design for Ecosystems – Good design mutually benefits human and nonhuman inhabitants.
• Design for Water – Good design conserves and improves the quality of water as a precious resource.
• Design for Economy – Good design adds economic value for owners, occupants, the community, and the planet – regardless of the project size and budget.
• Design for Energy – Good design reduces energy use and eliminates dependence on fossil fuels while improving building performance, function, comfort, and enjoyment.
• Design for Well-being – Good design supports health and well-being for all people – considering physical, mental, and emotional effects on building occupants and the surrounding community.
• Design for Resources – Good design depends on informed material and resource selection – balancing priorities to achieve durable, safe, and healthy projects with an equitable, sustainable supply chain to minimize possible negative impacts on the planet.

The AIA’s commitment to addressing climate change aligns in many ways with Kingspan’s Planet Passionate 10-year global sustainability program. Planet Passionate sets challenging targets for our company to meet in the areas of energy, carbon, circularity and water to help build a clean energy future, manage the earth’s resources more sustainably and protect the natural environment.

Announced in 2019 and kicked off in 2020, Planet Passionate is our North Star for decarbonizing operations, product offerings and the supply chain. Wrapping up the fourth year of this initiative, we are making significant advances in reducing carbon emissions, diverting waste from landfill, conserving water, providing upcycling solutions for plastic waste, and helping clean the world’s oceans and protect biodiversity. 

We work every day to ensure our products enable a pathway to net zero carbon buildings that contribute to a safer, healthier and more circular world. To achieve our goal of becoming net-zero carbon by 2030, we are also continuing to focus on generating onsite renewable energy and purchasing direct renewable energy. Our plants across the globe are also working to conserve water by reducing consumption, recycling water, and harvesting rainwater.

These of just some of the ways Planet Passionate is driving sustainability in everything we do.

To learn more about our Planet Passionate progress in advancing sustainability, take a look at our 2023 Sustainability Report here.

The AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence and Kingspan’s Planet Passionate sustainability program are great examples of how building design and construction industry stakeholders are doing their part to address the climate crisis, decarbonize buildings and protect the environment for generations to come.