Design for a Carbon-Free Life: The Pursuit of
While many organizations achieve carbon neutrality by purchasing carbon offsets-credits sold on an open market that finance renewable energy projects-this article focuses on projects that seek the net-zero goal solely through energy-efficient design strategies and on-site power generation. And it should be acknowledged that these featured projects don't consider embedded carbon, or the energy required to produce and transport building materials, as part of their overall zero-energy calculation.
Creating buildings that meet such criteria may seem like pie in the sky, but many designers say the goals of 2030 are within reach. Bill Dunster, whose Surrey, U.K.-based architecture firm, ZEDfactory, has created several mixed-use developments in England that are about as close as anyone has come to carbon neutral. He expresses optimism about the prospects for the built environment in the U.S. and elsewhere. "Once American industrial muscle and technology engage these issues, we could move away from the fossil-fuel economy within ten years," he predicts.
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