Sustainability

Construction has exceeded the planet’s limits, defined by the Planetary Boundaries – seven of which have already been exceeded globally. The construction industry accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions and is the world’s largest consumer of materials. As such, it is a major driver of climate change and biodiversity loss.

At CEBRA, we work on reducing our footprint in three ways: as activists, by helping push science-based legislation and decision-making through the Reduction Roadmap; through research, by participating in projects that expand knowledge and develop new tools; and through architecture, by integrating the potential for reduced environmental impact into our design process with our clients.

We enable informed decision-making. Balancing your needs, scope, and local conditions, our specialists help you identify where and how to reduce climate and biodiversity impacts guided by climate science.

Four project-specific approaches

The dual Butterfly Framework enables us to address both carbon reduction and nature regeneration, informed by the research-based report ‘Beyond the Roadmap’ by the Reduction Roadmap initiative. Guided by these insights, we have defined four strategic project-specific actions that support your team in making informed decisions on footprint:

Climate stability impact assessment

We measure the lifetime carbon emissions of your project using Real-Time LCA. Based on the results, we explore optimisation and propose low-carbon design solutions and material choices for your team.

Functioning ecosystem impact assessment

We are co-developing tools to assess a project’s lifetime biodiversity impact and inform strategies for both reduction and potential regeneration.

Guided by validated data and research, we aim to assess the climate-nature interdependencies and help you understand how different design and planning choices affect the footprint across the project scope.

Potential for refurbishment and adaptive reuse

Within your team’s scope, we assess the design potential of preservation, refurbishment, and repurposing of the built environment, adding compelling chapters to architectural heritage. Based on this, we can provide reuse, circular, and recycling strategies for materials to reduce the extraction of virgin resources.

Supporting longevity

Based on your team’s ambitions, we aim to design bold, beautiful, and poetic architecture that owners and users alike will value and care for. Using adaptive strategies and durable materials, we aim to increase the likelihood of a 120+ years lifespan to limit short-term developments and demolition, as well as interference with surrounding nature.