Architects’ biggest impact will always be our designs, therefore we are committing to specific project outcomes.

21.02.2022

In our last announcement we committed to accelerating targets related to our business operations, going well beyond the standard response to the United Nation’s Race To Zero campaign. However as architects, our biggest impact will always be the projects that we design.

Projects

Whilst project commitments are reliant on client buy-in and the regulatory environment, these pledges are by far the riskiest for us to make, but we are committing to them regardless and will publicly report on our progress against the targets from next year. We pledge that:

• All new projects from 2022 will have upfront carbon assessments by Stage 4.
• All new projects from mid-2022 will Include a roadmap for delivering against the RIBA 2030 goals at Stage 2 regardless of client ambition.
• By 2030 all completed projects by will meet (or exceed) the RIBA 2030 goals, and new designs will be meeting LETI A ratings for upfront carbon.
• All new projects from 2022 will have their upfront carbon published on our website via the LETI embodied carbon declaration by the time they reach Stage 4.
• From 2023 we will include upfront carbon emissions for projects alongside our Scope 3 emissions.
• At least a quarter of projects completed in the last 2 years will have a BUS study, by 2023.

Transparency and Substance

Though there is increasing commitment from the industry around net-zero targets, there is a serious danger that if the current quality of discourse around Climate Change targets on projects does not improve significantly in the coming years, it will be impossible for anyone to know who is delivering on what is required. We are all partly culpable, using terms like “low-carbon” without definition and quoting “% improvement over Part L” when we (hopefully) know these are effectively meaningless.

We are therefore committing to our new PR charter, which we call on other Architects Declare signatories to adopt and for the architectural press to expect of anyone submitting claims to them.

If you've missed it, go to part one of our Race to Zero commitments here.