Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future
The 21st century presents a relevance revolution for building-sector professionals, impacting humanity’s urban future. Carl Elefante discusses prioritizing stewardship and applying lessons from built heritage for strong communities, while “Going for Zero” explains the demands of climate action on architectural solutions and broader impacts on social, economic, and environmental concerns.
REGISTER NOW
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Can’t find your confirmation email? Login Here
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit.
Speaker:
Carl Elefante FAIA, FAPT, Principal Emeritus, Quinn Evans
Known worldwide for coining the phrase: “the greenest building is…one that is already built,” Carl Elefante is Principal Emeritus with Quinn Evans, recipient of the 2024 AIA National Firm Award. In 2018, Carl served as President of AIA, the culmination of leadership positions in architecture, historic preservation, and sustainable design organizations. In 2023, Carl was the inaugural visiting scholar at the University of Notre Dame Duda Center for Preservation, Resilience, and Sustainability. Carl is a Senior Fellow with Architecture 2030, a charter member of the Climate Heritage Network, and a Fellow of AIA and Association for Preservation Technology.
Guest Moderator: Robert Burns, AIA, Architect; AIA Historic Resources Committee Advisory Group, 2025 Chair
Course Description:
For those who shape the built environment, the forces impactingthe 21st century present a relevance revolution. The importance of what, where, and how we build has never been more consequential. The actions of today’s building-sector professionals will chart the course of humanity’s urban future. What will it be? “If the Past Teaches, What Does the Future Learn?” From a career rescuing buildings from demolition and repurposing them, Carl Elefante shares his experiences prioritizing stewardship and applying the lessons of built heritage for strong and abundant communities.
Curtailing climate change requires retooling everything about the design, construction, and operation of buildings to eliminate carbon pollution. It demands both a greater focus on building performance and construction technology and also deeper understanding of the impact of buildings and cities on human health, safety, wellbeing, and productive capacity. Going for Zero both explains the demands of climate action on architectural solutions and the broader impacts of climate action in addressing intransigent social, economic, and environmental concerns. These topics are addressed from a unique perspective.
The subject matter is most relevant to architects and other building-sector professionals. The presentation offers a range of material from global trends to detailed technical information andis presented without jargon.
Learning Objectives:
- Strategize to keep and repurpose existing buildings to meet energy and climate targets and simultaneously yield collateral social, economic, and environmental benefits.
- Consider the limitations of many accepted practices and what is needed to overcome them to meet energy and climate targets and yield collateral social, economic, and environmental benefits.
- Apply the forgotten premises of climate-adapted design to meet energy and climate targets and yield collateral social, economic, and environmental benefits.
- Design for a very long service-life for buildings to meet energy and climate targets and yield collateral social, economic, and environmental benefits.
REGISTER NOW
Purchase the book and get your questions ready.
