A Welcome Center for Ithaca’s Learning Farm // Circular Bio-Economies and Building Decarbonization
Spring 2024 - M.Arch. Studio IV - with Margaret Kirk
The construction industry is the biggest consumer of energy and resources, as well as the biggest producer of emissions and waste. Buildings and construction together account for about 50% of resource extraction, at least 40% of carbon dioxide emissions and 40% of solid waste production globally. Within the USA alone, 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris (CDD) are generated each year (twice the amount of municipal solid waste), making up about 40% of landfill waste in the country. All of these factors are dominant reasons for climate change and we – as (future) architects – play a significant role in shaping the future of our planet.
As a way to overcome the social, economic, and environmental problems of the current linear economic system, the concept of the circular economy is increasingly gaining attention, defined as one that is ‘restorative and regenerative by design and aims to keep assets, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times’. The consequent closing of production and consumption loops offers not only the possibility to end the loss of valuable finite resources, but also to reduce dependencies on global, volatile resource markets, prevent greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the effects of the climate crisis, and support new business models and green job opportunities.
In parts, the industry shows clear signs of a fundamental rethinking, driven by new carbon regulations, a new sensitivity of both client and architect and improved and more readily available tools and technologies. In late 2022, the AIA reported that renovation and retrofit projects for the first time accounted for more than 50% of total billings in the country. And locally, on June 5th 2019, the City of Ithaca’s Common Council unanimously adopted the Ithaca Green New Deal, the nation’s most progressive policy on climate-change, economic inequality and racial justice aiming for community-wide carbon-neutrality by 2030. Sub-goals of the Ithaca Green New Deal include 100% renewable electricity for all city government operations by 2025, a 50% emissions reduction from the city vehicle fleet by 2025, the promise to share these benefits among all local communities to reduce historical social and economic inequities and the facilitation of a comprehensive public engagement process. As part of the process, the city already adapted a new and rigorous Green Building Code for new buildings in 2019 and is currently developing a similar code for existing buildings.
This studio operates within this framework, developing a carbon-neutral, bio/reuse project as Welcome Center for Ithaca’s Learning Farm. It aims to combine the overarching concepts of agricultural production, circular construction and decarbonization in an effort to support the local efforts of both the Learning Farm and the City of Ithaca. The client, experts of the City, the architect as well as technical advisors will be active participants in the studio and provide the real-world foundation for the student’s discoveries and innovations towards truly integrative design projects.
