The life-cycles of the buildings we live and work in are a major source of large-scale environmental damage. It therefore stands to reason that a major rethinking of human habitation – from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and demolition – is a key innovation that can help us solve the climate crisis and set a new green building trend that ensures we do not create unnecessary environmental degradation in the future.

Green building is using resource-efficient and environmentally responsible practices to build new or to repurpose already existing structures.

When I was building and studying my MTA Portfolio, I was living in the City of Bristol in the UK. Bristol was voted the European Green Capital in 2015 in recognition of its ambitious environmental improvement and sustainable developments. Bristol opened my eyes to the real-world potential of green building and is one of the reasons I ended up including a module where I could take a deep dive into the concept.

Bristol also has a seemingly never-ending housing crisis, which is not helped by the Bristol and Bath Green Belt which surrounds the city perimeter and heavily prohibits new building developments on what is otherwise untarnished natural countryside. Therefore, in addition to new green building developments, I was also witnessing urban regeneration on a massive scale with every and any available space or structure within the city boundary being repurposed for new housing.

Considering how more and more people are living in built up areas, Bristol serves as real-world example of how, even under environmental restrictions, we can create/recreate urban green spaces for human habitation.