A view from COP28, and relearning how to be an architect for after the Oil Age, with Kelly Alvarez Doran (Half Climate Design; Architecture 2030 Senior Fellow)

With us this week is new friend, Kelly Alvarez Doran, via an introduction from Lloyd to talk about his experiences at COP28 and his carbon reduction consultancy Ha/f Climate Design that's challenged itself to reduce Canadian construction's emissions by half.

We get sidetracked almost immediately while we talk about Kelly's background as an architect, working in mining, and the big changes to philosophy on building after working in Rwanda. 

In spite of the early diversion, we spent the whole conversation consistently hitting the same key themes themes:

• Embodied carbon and life cycle analysis 
• Designing for the end of Oil-Age architecture
• Rethinking the role of building design in the age of embodied carbon 

Kelly's great. He'll be back. Hopefully without any sound issues next time (it gets better after a bit).

Also, XPS = Extruded polystyrene insulation.


Notes from the show

• Kelly on Linkedin
• Conversations on the phasing out of oil felt paradoxical amidst the Dubai backdrop (The Architect's Newspaper, January 2024), Kelly's original view from COP28
• Embodied Embodied carbon values of common insulation materials (Canadian Architect, April 2021) i.e. the article with the chart that names brand names alongside embodied carbon values and egregious payback lead times for common insulation materials
• The YouTube video of the Straw Panel vs. Conventional Construction Burn Test that Kelly refers to
• The Ha/f Climate Design website
• Building LCA for Architects Online Course (OneClick) a free primer course for architects by Kelly
• The UK Government Flood Risk Tool 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page
• Jeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - [e-mail]; Everything is User Experience
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

What is Zero Ambitions Podcast?

Zero Ambitions is a consultancy and weekly podcast about sustainability and the built environment.

We find interesting and experienced guests who know what they're talking about, usually to discuss how we navigate the complexity of decarbonisation and sustainability in the built environment and its many related sectors.

The success of the podcast has seen it grow into a consultancy, Zero Ambitions Partners. The consultancy works with blue chip clients, public sector institutions, and niche-market innovators that operate in the built environment, advising about the development and delivery of sustainability strategy and how it should be communicated.

Hosted by Jeff Colley (Passive House Plus), Dan Hyde (Everything is User Experience) and Alex Blondin (Everything is User Experience).