Designing a Sustainable Future: AU Learning for COP26

In 1997, delegates from 192 UN countries, territories, and other parties gathered for the third UN Climate Change Conference. Their aim was to get all participants to officially acknowledge two things: first, that climate change was taking place and, second, that it was caused by CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity. The Conference of Parties (COP) that govern the conference then issued a resolution, the Kyoto Protocol, that set emissions reduction targets and defined other actions for the parties involved. That was COP3.

In 2015, at the 21st UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the COP upped the ante. The result was the Paris Agreement, with new emissions reduction targets that aimed to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees C over pre-industrial levels. That was COP21.

Now, it’s time to up the ante once again. With COP25 cancelled due to the pandemic and the effects of climate change ever more evident, this week’s UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow carries particular weight. The goals are to ratchet up commitments from participating parties to achieve global net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century, protect communities and habitats, mobilize financing to accomplish those goals, and work collectively to achieve them. As President Biden said on Monday at the conference, “This is a decisive decade in which we have an opportunity to prove ourselves. We can keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within our reach if we come together.”

The stakes are high—for people and the planet. According to the Sixth Assessment Report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in August, we can’t keep global warming under the 1.5 degrees C threshold without greater reductions in GHG emissions. The effects of climate change will be significant even in the best scenarios, but if we go over the 2 degrees C threshold, the consequences—from sea level rise to extreme weather and extended drought—will be catastrophic.

Achieving global climate goals can’t happen without participation from governments worldwide, but businesses and civil society also have an essential role to play. And Autodesk is all in, both in how we operate as a company and in what our products enable for our customers. This year, Autodesk is sponsoring the 12th Sustainable Innovation Forum (SIF), which is convening alongside COP26 in Glasgow, and will be participating in sessions on sustainable construction, resilient infrastructure, and the challenges of zero-carbon buildings. As well, Autodesk this year achieved net-zero GHG emissions across our business and value chain, and issued a $1 billion bond to invest in innovative projects that enable our customers to advance sustainable outcomes, among other initiatives to support a sustainable future.

Designers and makers also have a key role to play in achieving the transformation toward sustainable industries and processes. Check out the AU sessions below that can help you develop the skills, workflows, and perspectives to design for a sustainable future.

Controlling carbon

Every year, we put more carbon dioxide into the air than natural processes can take out, which means the atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise. We know the global energy demand will continue to grow. We also know we must take immediate action to reduce our levels of carbon output. That’s going to require both new tools and new approaches to the problem.

Buildings make up almost 40% of global GHG emissions, with embodied carbon making up 11%. If we can factor embodied carbon into our designs from the start and utilize lifecycle analysis (LCA) in BIM models, we can measure and optimize our embodied carbon—gaining a competitive edge and meeting the aggressive sustainability goals set by Architecture 2030. In How to Create Embodied Carbon Reduction Strategies Using BIM and LCA, discover how to integrate embodied carbon and LCA analysis into your workflows, and then how to automate the process of optimization.

Everyone wants to build beautiful buildings that are sustainable and affordable—and we have the tools and processes to do it. But what does successful adoption of these tools and processes look like? Mass Timber and Decarbonization: A Case Study In Collaborative Modular Design features a panel of key players from Perkins & Will, Rutherford + Chekene, Point Energy Innovations, Cumming Group, and Structuriam who break down how they were able to reduce embodied carbon by 60%, cost by 10%, and construction time by 15% on a shared project.

How can you implement these practices in your firm? Dan Stein of Lake Flato Architects shares examples of messaging, training, and support to change your work culture and encourage early energy modeling in Implementing Early Energy Modeling in an Architectural Practice.

Adapting to protect communities and habitats

In addition to controlling carbon, we need to reduce the effects we have on the natural world through the things we make and build, and the waste we generate in the process. Whether you’re talking about mitigating destruction of habitats, reducing plastics pollution, designing infrastructure to withstand flooding, or reimagining the “make, use, waste” model for industry, we need new skills to build in circular and resilient ways.

In manufacturing, one way to move towards a circular economy is with hybrid manufacturing—using both additive and subtractive manufacturing within the same machine. Check out Realizing the Circular Economy in Tool Making with Hybrid Manufacturing to learn how hybrid manufacturing is used on injection mold tools—with the help of Fusion 360—to extend the life of the tools and modify abilities while cutting down on errors and waste.

In building design and construction, one firm to look to for ideas on implementing contracts, technology, and processes that promote sustainability is Buro Happold, whose vision embraces a regenerative ecosystem for the natural and built world. May Winfield shares the lessons they’ve learned in Using Technology and Software to Create More Sustainable Designs.

A key way to protect our communities and habitats is through retrofitting houses to prevent the loss of life in natural disasters. Build Change has been doing this for over 17 years in dozens of countries, helping over 600,000 people. In A Digital Revolution in Resilient Housing, Build Change, and Autodesk, they look at one of their largest programs in Colombia and demonstrate how digital solutions can be adapted for diverse use cases to help us solve construction bottlenecks and boost infrastructure resilience.

And that's just the beginning. You can find more learning for sustainable design on demand at Autodesk University whenever you’re ready.