In this new #BuildingLife Ambassador Spotlight Series, first published in Passive House Plus, RIAI CEO Kathryn Meghen tells us more about why she’s supporting the #BuildingLife campaign and what the institute is doing to address sustainability in architecture.
Why did you choose to become a #BuildingLife ambassador?
A central focus of the RIAI’s work is to support Architects and Architectural Technologists in the delivery of high-quality sustainable buildings and places. This is not only for the benefit of the building users but for the wider society as an important contribution to climate change action. Our RIAI Strategy 2023-2027 also places a strong emphasis on sustainability, and we support our members through training, promotion and advocacy. For example, we will be launching a new Environmental Accreditation for our members this year, to support their skills and expertise in design for sustainability.
The climate change challenge is, however, complex and solutions can only be delivered through collaboration with our built environment colleagues. The #BuildingLife Ambassador programme is a great avenue to work across all sectors of the industry to deliver this ambition.
What are you hoping to achieve with the #BuildingLife campaign?
Architects have a leadership role in the built environment, and the RIAI has brought our knowledge and expertise in sustainable building design to our work on external bodies such as the steering group for the National Policy on Architecture and the Construction Sector Group. But I believe that we need to go further – as a #BuildingLife Ambassador, my key ambition is to build new platforms for collaboration across the built environment professions.
These new platforms and initiatives can drive new research into sustainable methods of construction, which are necessary to deliver the number of homes we need to create – as part of liveable urban developments – to accommodate our rising population. Together, we need to create an environment which supports the delivery of better-quality buildings, surrounded by a community-focused infrastructure.
The Building Life Campaign provides a platform for the collaborative effort needed to drive change, one of the important outcomes has been the IGBC’s ‘Building a Zero Carbon Ireland’ roadmap, published in 2022. The roadmap outlines the key actions the building industry must take to reduce its emissions by 51% by 2030, in line with our national climate targets. It includes a useful separate roadmap for each of the key disciplines within the building industry – architects, contractors, engineers, planners, surveyors etc.
Can you explain a few ways in which RIAI is working towards a sustainable built environment?
We have a range of initiatives underway that are all linked to the RIAI Strategy, which seeks to inspire excellence in architecture to deliver a sustainable and resilient future. Key elements of this are the upcoming Environmental Accreditation system, which recognises our members’ ability, knowledge and skill in sustainable design. We have an extensive CPD programme of courses in sustainable design for performance and are currently working with the Irish Green Building Council on a joint programme of research, support tools, guidance and up-skilling of professionals to address the much-needed decarbonisation of our built environment. The programme, Design4Zero, is funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) under its National Energy Research Development and Demonstration Programme. We are also creating awareness of exemplars of sustainable design through our annual RIAI Awards programme with a dedicated award for Sustainable Design. This year’s winner was the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Headquarters – an exemplary retrofit project by the Office of Public Works. We believe that valuable lessons from this retrofit project can be applied to our existing building stock.
We are constantly reviewing our training and support for our members to ensure that they are best equipped for their important role in the design, delivery and management of a sustainable built environment.
