Lina Ghotmeh wants to reduce the use of concrete in construction.
Lina Ghotmeh has tied her career to sustainable construction.
The Lebanese-French architect wants to see his industry transformed by dramatically reducing the use of concrete—a key CO2 contributors—use more local materials and reuse existing buildings and materials.
“We need to change our value system,” the 42-year-old told AFP last month.
The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry and create buildings that can better resist the effects of climate change.
But it is not an easy battle.
This industry accounts for nearly 40% global greenhouse gas emissionsaccording to the United Nations.
Ghotmeh, who designed the National Museum of Estonia and teaches at Yale University, isn’t in favor of having fewer buildings—she knows it’s an unrealistic goal in a world with Population growth.
“That’s like saying ‘stop eating’,” she said.
‘Do not tear down’
Instead, we should “keep what’s already there, not tear it down”, but refurbish and retrofit old buildings in a sustainable way where possible.
According to the French Agency for Ecological Transformation (Ademe), building a new detached house consumes 40 times more resources than renovating an existing property, and for a new apartment complex, this number increases. 80 times.
Lina Ghotmeh’s ‘rock garden’ in Beirut uses traditional building techniques.
And where new construction is required, local materials and designs should be used in a combination the natural environment and save energy.
Ghotmeh used more than 500,000 bricks made from local soil for the new Hermes building in France, which is due to open early next year.
The bricks also regulate the temperature of the building and reduce energy needs.
The building will generate as much energy as it consumes, by being energy efficient and using geothermal energy.
‘Circular thinking’
Early in the project, Ghotmeh said, architects must “think in a cyclical way”, choosing organics that can be reused or Natural ingredients like wood, hemp, linen or stone.
This shouldn’t get in the way design process or, she insists.
“In Canada, we build wooden towers, in Japan too. It’s a fairly capable material for tall buildings,” added Ghotmeh, who will build a wooden tower in Paris in 2023.
Another important approach is to make it lighter, using less materials and less toxic.
Transform the concrete jungle.
And then concrete, the main material in so many modern building and probably the hardest to move away from.
“We must drastically reduce the use of concrete, while emphasizing that concrete should only be used for essential purposes, such as foundations and buildings in earthquake-prone areas,” she said.
According to the Global Concrete and Cement Association, about 14 billion cubic meters of concrete are used annually.
It emits more CO2 compared to aviation, largely due to the intense heat required to generate it.
Alternatives to concrete already exist, such as stone, or make cement—a component of concrete—from calcium carbonate. There are also efforts to promote low-carbon cement made from iron and steel industry waste.
beirut inspiration
More sustainable construction often comes with a higher price tag—it costs more to double or triple glazed windows and properly insulate a home—but the long-term benefit is lower energy costs .
For Ghotmeh, it is an urgent investment in our future.
It was Beirut’s birthplace that inspired her to become an architect, fueling her desire to rebuild the so-called “ruined city” ravaged by war.
The wall of the ‘Stone Garden’ Ghotmeh
In 2020, she completed the “Stone Garden” apartment tower in the city, built of concrete coated with combed paint, a technique commonly used by local craftsmen. She used concrete in her construction because of the earthquake risk.
The Building strong enough to survive the port explosion in 2020 that destroyed a large part of the city.
And the city continues to inspire her today, even when it comes to climate sustainability.
“Because of the fact that there’s only one hour of electricity a day, all buildings now have solar panels. There’s a kind of energy independence that’s starting to take place by force,” she said.
“Does it take a disaster like the one in Lebanon to make this transition?”
© 2022 AFP
quote: Lebanese-French architect seeking climate-friendly building transition (2022, 25 November) accessed 25 November 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022 -11-french-lebanese-architect-pro-climate.html
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