Sustainability Education Committee

Architects in the Heat Planet: Biodiversity, the Solar Interface and Climate Disruption

Christopher Haines AIA, will remind us that since Charles Keeling's report to Jimmy Carter from 1978 we have been told that greenhouse emissions cause climate change by trapping heat like a greenhouse. What is the source of the heat they trap? Luke Howard published his thesis on the Climate of London in 1818, and the problem of urban heat islands has been studied and examined ever since. We have created what is effectively a global heat island. Greenhouse emissions exacerbate the problem by trapping sensible heat, but they do not cause it.

This is very good news because our real climate problems are local and we can improve our conditions directly and with relatively short time frames. There are very real opportunities here and solid reason for hope. And no, this material is not included in the IPCC modeling.

1.5 LU/HSW AIA credits are available.

To learn more about the Sustainability Education Committee, visit architects.org/knowledge-communities/sustainability-education-committee.