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
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):
- Introduction: Building Sense Now – an introductory conversation between Christine Lemaitre and Prashant Kapoor, two of the Building Sense Now initiators
- Architecture is a tool to improve lives: Building with ramped earth by Anna Heringer, Architect at Studio Anna Heringer Austria and 1st Building Sense Now Award Winner
- Climate Responsive Design by Thomas Auer, Managing Director of Transsolar
- Climate Responsive Building and Construction in Development Cooperation – Experiences from Latin America by Marcelo Waschl, former Desk Officer Urban Development for Latin America at MISEREOR
- Urban Village Regeneration – Guiding cities toward sustainable growth by Ashok Lall, Ashok B. Lall Architects
- Re-inventing Growth through Strategic Design by Professor Peter Sharratt, Founder and Managing Director of Fhoras Consulting
- Designing for Sustainability in Affordable Housing by Ashok Lall, Ashok B. Lall Architects
- COP 26: How to reach a zero carbon built environment by Edward Mazria, Founder of Architecture 2030
- Post disaster reconstruction in Haiti based on Local Building Cultures by Alexandre Douline, Civil Engineer at CRAterre (International Centre on Earthen Architecture)
- Bahareque Ceren: An ancestral construction technique to create modern and sustainable architecture from El Salvador by Wilfredo Carazas Aedo, Architect at CRATerre (International Centre on Earthen Architecture)
About the Building Sense Now initiative
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.
Additional information:
- All information about the digital master classes, registration and recordings of past events can be found here: www.buildingsensenow.com/events
- Would you like to learn more about the initiative, the initiators and supporters or become a supporter yourself? Check out the Building Sense Now website.
- You can read more about the history of the initiative in this article on the DGNB Blog.