For many years, architects took aim at energy loads with a focus on reducing the energy that buildings require for cooling, heating, ventilation, and lighting. Solar design encompassed ideas of light and passive approaches, and more recently, to operational and structural embodied energy. Creating energy-efficient buildings has increasingly become a delicate balance, where designing features that decrease the energy needed can actually increase the energy-intensive materials required to build them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, architects and designers around the world have taken steps to minimize the amount of energy that new buildings use, and the emphasis on solar energy and sustainable practices has extended to embodied carbon. The American Institute of Architects recently stated in the Resolution for Urgent and Sustained Climate Action, \u201cuntil zero-net-carbon practice is the accepted standard of its members, the AIA prioritizes and supports urgent climate action as a health, safety, and welfare issue.\u201d Looking at the connection between architecture and energy, the following articles and projects explore solar design, photovoltaic technology, and more recent innovations that are shaping how we think about the future of the built environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n