Beyond CO₂e: Materials and Lived Climate

Materials and Lived Climate explores how material choices influence environmental performance beyond embodied carbon alone. Through a series of short talks and discussion, the event considers how sourcing, circularity, production, structural efficiency, urban form, energy use and land use interact across different spatial and temporal scales.
The event brings together architects, engineers, material innovators and urban climate researchers, with contributions from Will Arnold, Mooka Srisurayotin, Julie Futcher, Professor Zhiwen Luo and David Watson, chaired by RIBA President-elect Jay Morton.
Five Pecha Kucha–style presentations will examine material systems from different perspectives: decarbonised and regenerative materials, alternative material production, contextual material performance, urban climate and comfort, and the wider implications of land use and time. The talks will be followed by chaired discussion and informal networking.
Material decisions can reduce one environmental impact while unintentionally increasing another. The event creates space to look beyond single metrics and consider how carbon, resources, energy, climate, comfort and lived experience are connected.

Speakers:
Jay Morton: Chair

RIBA President-elect and Director at Bell Phillips Architects
Jay will chair the evening, bringing a broad perspective on architecture, housing, regeneration and the profession’s role in shaping more sustainable places.

Will Arnold: Useful Simple Trust

Decarbonised, circular and regenerative material systems
Will will explore the urgent need to reduce upfront carbon through material choice and use, while looking beyond carbon alone. He will consider how every project can help move the industry towards more circular and regenerative ways of building.

Mooka Srisurayotin: Matter Forms

From waste stream to architectural material
Mooka will look at what happens when an alternative material moves beyond prototype stage: securing waste streams, developing fabrication methods, navigating testing and certification, and deciding how production should scale. Her work with Oyster[Crete]® raises wider questions about regional resources, micro-manufacturing and place-responsive production.

Dr Julie Futcher: RIBA London Climate SIG

Material performance in urban context
Using the City of London as a case study, Julie will examine how material properties interact with urban morphology to shape heat, radiation, airflow and wider environmental conditions. Her talk asks how materials can be judged not only by specified properties, but by the conditions they help create beyond the building envelope.

Professor Zhiwen (Vincent) Luo: Cardiff University

Materials, urban form, comfort and climate resilience
Vincent will explore how roofs, façades, streets and other urban surfaces influence heat storage, solar exposure, ventilation and comfort, and how these effects accumulate across the city alongside heat released through building energy use.

David Watson: Tyréns AKT

Land use, time and the relationships between buildings
David will widen the frame further, considering how land use and time affect climate outcomes, and why optimising one building or one metric in isolation can create unintended consequences elsewhere. His work asks whether the relationships between buildings may ultimately matter more than the buildings themselves.
Host: Tyréns AKT

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Event venue & nearby stays

Tyréns AKT, Norton Folgate, London, United Kingdom

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