Workers are silhouetted against a sunset as they handle a steel frame on the roof of the Workers’ Stadium under construction in Beijing, China, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. China, the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global warming, has seen a notable dip in its carbon emissions over the past three quarters, as of June 1, 2022 — but it’s not clear how long the drop will continue. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
By Edward Mazria featured in The Hill
We are witnessing the remarkable transformation of the U.S. building sector with record emissions reductions that began in 2005.
In the U.S., from the Industrial Revolution (late 1700s) to 2005, as the buildings sector grew, so did sector energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This makes sense. We added about 3 billion to 5 billion square feet to our building stock each year, and as those buildings consumed energy to operate — electricity, natural gas, heating oil, etc. — energy consumption and emissions in the sector went up.
However, in 2005, something extraordinary happened…
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Architecture 2030’s mission is to rapidly transform the built environment from the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions to a central solution to the climate crisis.
