the climate task requires, well, actually everything

Just like in 2023 and 2022, cepezed dedicates the last week of October to the environmental challenge. To learn, that is, because sustainability is always a motivator when designing. The Green Day 2024 features a lecture by Floris Alkemade and four workshops.

ch-ch-ch-changes
‘Ch-ch-ch-changes’, sings David Bowie enchantingly in the upper-right corner of Floris Alkemades' slides. If anyone specialises in propagating change, it is this architect, former OMA partner and former Chief Government Architect. In his lecture, he points out the value of architects. After all, such a drastic change as the climate challenge calls for requires imagination. And that is exactly what architects excel at. This is not new to us; Peter van Assche and Jacob Voorthuis also pointed this out in their lectures, each in his own way. Floris Alkemade connects imagination to responsibility: to provide completely different answers, he thinks architects should get much more involved with the demand side of the building world.

doubt is more exciting
One could, for instance, question the common formulation of the housing task since, according to Alkemade, it does not take into account the growing number of single-person households. ‘Many regulations are tied to outdated culture, to social standards that no longer apply,’ says Alkemade. 'Visualise that. And don't wait for people to call! The good thing about the present is that everyone is on a quest. Sooner or later, construction companies will be presented with bills for their CO2 emissions. Realising this, these companies are vulnerable, though of course they show resistance. At this moment in history, we are led by doubt rather than certainty. I find doubt much more fascinating.'

not think-tank-like
At cepezed, we do not sit think-tank-like on questions, but we always critically investigate them. Sometimes we answer unasked questions - for instance, the Wegapunt building was not demolished for new construction, but reused, and the design flexibility anticipates to possible new use in the future. And the cooperation with the developers of cepezedprojects ensures that in some projects the question is also considered, so we can build detachable.

sustainability at cepezed
Colleagues provided the workshops on circularity and BIM, and on the CO2 emissions of materials. Concluding, the data collected by cepezeds’ CO2 team shows the influence materials have. Here's an opportunity to significantly reduce emissions. Given the data, the best way to do so seems to be to opt for the reuse of material. This was precisely the topic of the other workshop, where cepezeds’ BIM team presented the framework to list and trace donor objects. That digital representation simplifies data sharing within collaborations with, for instance, dismantling companies.

nature-inclusive design
Faunest is our guest to encourage us to focus on nature-inclusive design. In the workshop, several cepezed designs are measured. ‘The importance of integration cannot be emphasised enough as far as “nature-inclusive” is concerned,’ Tatjana Anholts summarises. 'It is not a sticker you add at the last minute. And it is not just about a safe home for birds, insects and animals, but also about food, reproduction and connection. For example, a bee house on a sedum roof makes little sense if that sedum does not contain food for bees.'

biophilic design
The biophilic design workshop was given by Tessa Duste. She works for Moss, the agency we collaborate with on the transformation designs for Westraven in Utrecht and Universe in The Hague. ‘With plants you automatically think they have to be alive,’ Jamal van Kastel summarised, ‘but “mummified moss walls” are already quite good. They reduce allergies, increase productivity and overall well-being. Jamal also mentioned the fancy trees in our renders. 'As designers, if we want a big tree inside, we need te make sure it fits through the door. It also has to be able to root well and we have to consider the price of a nice big tree.'