Sequencing and Targeting Climate Change Policy for Architecture: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach

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National Science Foundation Workshop Proposal 1127851Abstract Sequencing and Targeting Climate Change Policy for Architecture: An Interdisciplinary and International ApproachThis interdisciplinary workshop on climate change policy for architecture will involve a collaboration of the University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development (UTCSD), the Arizona State University Center for Nanotechnology and Society (CNS), and the University of Manchester Architectural Research Center (MARC). The Workshop will examine three related barriers and opportunities to the adoption of beneficial technologies that are essential to sustainable architectural production and use in an era of climate change: information failures, demand stimulation, and knowledge systems. With regard to information we will focus on two types of failures: (1) those that stem from differences in the types of information that are salient to industry and consumers, and (2) those that stem from the sensitivities of groups regarding how information is conveyed and who conveys it. With regard to demand, we will focus on two types of stimuli: (1) how to stimulate resources for research and development that ties technological change to social behavior, and (2) how to stimulate market demand for things that might help solve the problem, rather than, or in addition to, research and development for things that architects, scientists and engineers want to do. And with regard to knowledge systems, we will focus on identifying the sets of institutions required to generate, assess, disseminate, and apply new knowledge about sustainable architecture. The focus on technology and behavior requires both interdisciplinary and international perspectives to avoid the myopic proposals premised on discrete technological fixes that have dominated research in the field. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the construction and operation of architecture accounts for almost half of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and almost half of North America's annual energy consumption. This amount is twice that contributed by the transportation sector. These statistics are put in a critical context by a Brookings Institution study which projects that by 2030 about half of the buildings in which Americans live, work, and shop will have been built after 2000, suggesting that the construction and operation of architecture could ironically become the nation's single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The workshop will be action-oriented, meaning that the goal is not simply to identify opportunities and barriers to interdisciplinary research, but also to forge concrete research initiatives across disciplines that will benefit the construction industry, building managers and public health. Staff of the University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development will follow-up for a period of six-months after the Workshop to disseminate findings and initiate new collaborative research.