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Knowledge from around the world: Master Classes for climate-friendly construction

Global exchange of knowledge on climate-friendly construction

On 22 July 2021, Dr Christine Lemaitre (CEO, DGNB – German Sustainable Building Council) and Prashant Kapoor (Chief Industry Specialist, IFC Climate Business Group, World Bank Group) kicked off the free Master Classes of the Building Sense Now initiative and MISEREOR. Since then, people from 47 countries have participated in the global knowledge exchange on climate-smart building. All past events are available online. One more Master Class will be taking place in February, and more are in the planning.

The local conditions on our planet are diverse. In building, too, there is therefore no one-size-fits-all solution for the “perfect” building. Nevertheless, most buildings are built the same way, whether they fit the local climatic conditions or not after all, building technology sets hardly any limits to artificial adaptation. But does that really make sense?

Master Classes show international diversity in local climate-friendly construction

The digital Master Classes of the global initiative Building Sense Now and MISEREOR, the German Catholic Bishops’ Organisation for Development Cooperation, allow to see the bigger picture and are intended to help adopt new perspectives. Building experts from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America make their country-specific expertise on climate-friendly and culturally appropriate building accessible to everyone.

The speakers are showing how much there is in the often-unused potential of local traditional building methods. And which little-known but often simple solutions can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in construction and also make our buildings and cities more resilient to climatic changes and severe weather events. Indeed, these solutions are already reflected in region-specific designs, building techniques and materials that are in line with cultural understanding and local behaviours.

Join in: Next Master Class in February 2022

Building Sense Now Master Classes on climate-friendly building

The master classes are held online and in English.

The impulse lectures (1-2 hours long) focus on inspiration for own actions and the sharing of experiences and practical examples. Afterwards, there will be time for questions and personal exchange. You can still register for the next Master Class in February. Participation is free of charge.

On Tuesday 22 February, Sandy Minier, a Mexico-based architect and co-founder of the network for clay construction Red MesoAmeri-Kaab, will talk about the role of women in building with earth and other locally available materials in Mesoamerica. You can register here.

Recordings of all Master Classes are available online

You can find an overview of past events on the Building Sense Now website (in English or with English subtitles):

 


About the Building Sense Now initiative

The initiators of Building Sense Now

In November 2017, six pioneers of sustainable building met in Frankfurt am Main, Germany to officially launch the Building Sense Now initiative.

Building Sense Now was launched in 2017 as a self-organising movement supported by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). The aim is to create a broad network of like-minded architects, engineers and designers committed to climate and culturally sustainable buildings around the world. Sharing knowledge and experience is the basis of the network.

With the digital Master Classes, the global initiative wants to provide access to country-specific construction expertise. Not only in the sense of a climate-friendly and culturally sensitive practice, but also to bring ideas to life worldwide.


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