The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy, took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from Oct. 31 – Nov. 12. Church.Design caught up with architect Michael R. Davis, FAIA, LEED AP, president of Boston- and Los Angeles-based Bergmeyer and the chair of the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute of Architects (AIA) Government Advocacy Committee to find out what information from the conference most applies to the work of church architects. Here's what Davis reports.
Michael R. Davis, FAIA, LEED AP, President of Bergmeyer, Boston and Los Angeles
Church.Design: Give one top takeaway on the future of the built environment and the role of the architect after attending COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Davis: The world understands that buildings must be part of the climate change solution. One conference day was exclusively dedicated to “Cities, Regions, and Built Environments”… but the delegates weren’t talking about buildings. They were talking about buildings as an abstraction, as an economic sector. The Parties are pledging to reduce GHGs [greenhouse gases] from the building sector by 50% by 2030. But nobody is saying what that means for the building industry. We—architects—are the folks that can tell the world what a decarbonized built environment looks like and how to get there.
Church.Design: What are the primary ways you believe architecture can help combat, or at least help control, climate change?
Davis: Buildings are infrastructure! A huge part of our national GDP [gross domestic product] is created inside buildings. Architecture [is] the infrastructure that supports a great deal of our entire gross domestic product. The building industry itself is in fact 6% of the United States’ GDP. If we are going to get to a zero-carbon economy—a “decarbonized” economy—then we will have to decarbonize the building industry.
2021 COP26, Glasgow, Scotland
Church.Design: For architects that work in the institutional space, either in or including design for houses of worship, what lessons from COP26 do you feel are most important for them to consider, in a broad view?
Davis: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the key to our sustaining the less-than 1.5 degree temperature change that science tells us must happen. How buildings contribute to that goal is first by going 100% electric—no fossil fuel combustion on site—and second by being radically energy efficient while using 100% renewable energy for operations. But there’s a third aspect that we need to come quickly up to speed on: reducing the carbon intensity of construction itself. This means developing and using lower carbon materials and components as well as lower carbon construction methods.
Church.Design: How can churches and other houses of worship help lead the way for greater awareness of the importance of sustainability within communities, so that they serve as models for the importance of environmental stewardship?
Davis: COP26 has two overarching climate action goals: mitigation and adaptation. Greenhouse gas reduction is about mitigation. Adaptation is about how people and communities prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change that have already happened. Churches can play an absolutely vital role in helping our communities be prepared for climate change impacts. Think of natural disasters or extreme weather events. Wherever you are in the world, climate change will look different. Some places will experience sea level rise and storm surge. Some will have extreme heat events and fires. But wherever you are, two things will happen: Power will go out and people will be displaced. That’s where churches can help. “Passive survivability” is how a building can remain functional and actually support community life during crisis events. All churches should be prepared to provide refuge—temporary shelter, power, food, warmth—when climate disaster strikes, making them central to social resilience.
2021 COP26, Glasgow, Scotland
Church.Design: Is there anything else you would like to add—anything you feel is especially important?
Davis: Private market forces alone are not going to meet any of these challenges. The world’s governments—including ours—need to drive changes through incentive and regulation. The design professionals and building industry companies can be partners with governments to leverage incentives and drive compliance with regulation, but we cannot make these changes happen ourselves. We need government to step up.
Michael R. Davis, FAIA, LEED AP, is president of Bergmeyer, with offices in Boston and Los Angeles. He can be reached at mdavis@bergmeyer.com.
