AA LECTURE TOMORROW – FROM NOW ON: ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

05/05/2020

Duncan will deliver a lecture at The AA tomorrow

Series: AAction lunchtime lectures
When: Wednesday 6th May 2020 at 13:00
Where: The lecture will be show via the AA Zoom channel, click here to join
Audience: Open to the public

Duncan will be giving a lecture at the AA tomorrow entitled From now on: On the circular economy. For full details please visit the AA website here.

“Architects have long shared an intrinsic relationship with carbon. Long in the history, the industry had been following a linear consumption module, which is based on a ‘take, make, and dispose’’ to operate. As our cities are growing, buildings are up in a flashy speed, our remaining resources are facing depletion. In recent years, material economies have risen to the forefront of discussions surrounding architecture’s environmental footprint. However, in order to embrace both the ethos and practice of circular economies, architectural education needs to endeavor and confront the realities of its interface with the consumer market.

Can we redesign the way we make, designing buildings for a circular economy? The resource on our planet is finite. As practicing and future architects, we are facing a transition that should and will happen. A collaborative effort needs to make to acquire a circular economy in which waste and pollution are eliminated while ecosystems are nurtured rather than exploited.

A key lecture accompanied by a panel discussion will explore how the circular economy applies to the built environment and how architectural education can implement its principles, pushing for new and alternative means of production.

The AAction Lunchtime Lectures convene critical thoughts from within the Architectural Association and beyond, spurring discussion around issues central to a climatologically relevant pedagogy”.

ELIMINATING CONSTRUCTION WASTE

27/11/2019

/ BBM Architects

Duncan was part of the panel for “Eliminating Construction Waste” last month.

Panelists: Robert Crocker and Duncan Baker-Brown

The panelists spoke about how to present linear model followed in design and construction can be modified and replaced with a more circular model. They also paid particular attention to the role of information technology in conjunction with sustainable waste management systems to better enable the reuse of materials like timber, glass and steel, and the vital importance of changing inappropriate regulation and of training and engaging designers to lead this process.

Organised on 29th Oct, 2019. Construction materials represent around 40% of all materials used in most advanced economies, and construction and demolition (C & D) waste makes up around 25% -30% of waste sent to landfill. This results in millions of tons of C & D waste being buried every year, representing huge losses in embodied energy, water and materials. In many jurisdictions the ‘linear’ expectations embodied in design and construction practice and regulation undermine the feasibility of more fully re-using construction materials.

FUTUREBUILD 2019 WASTE ZONE: DAY 2

06/03/2019

/ BBM Architects

The Waste Zone is underway – Wednesday 6th of March 2019 (Day 2)

WasteZone Website

Futurebuild 2019 Website

Location: Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London, E16 1XL

Planning your trip

Get your free visitor ticket

Day two at the Waste Zone will showcase five sessions including some keynote presentations from the figures renowned in the world of cirular economy such as Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart from Leuphana University in Lüneburg and Prof. Mark Miodownik from the UCL’s Instute of Making. Among the topics for today: When to re-use, recycle avoid or grow? Circular Cities as potential growth and employment generators, How to support a truly circular economy and a discussion on plastic. Each of the talks will be followed by a Q&A session.

The full discussions programme can be found here

Meanwhile at the BBM stand

This year the Waste Zone houses 16 beach huts which have been donated by the School of Architecture & Design at The University of Brighton. The beach huts were previously used for last year’s final year architecture show and will now act as presentation units for multiple exhibitors showcasing their products and ideas around the circular economy.

Located next to The Waste Zone’s main speakers area the stand showcases our 25 years worth of experience in research and practical application of ideas around the circular economy in the built environment. More about our projects and the services we provide can be found at our stand G101. We will be wearing our locally sourced screen printed, surplus stock BBM t-shirts sourced from Dirty Harry in Brighton.

Responsible Futures’ Waste Zone will help you to navigate away from the current take, make and throw-away society towards an intelligent, closed-loop system where waste is seen as a valuable resource.

This year’s Waste Zone has an new exciting new format. The introduction of a Circular Economy Hub will act as a marketplace for visitors and innovators to discuss their products. Visitors can experience the re-use possibilities of the top ten construction waste streams in an eye-opening exhibition in the new foyer area which surrounds the seminar area. These spill-out zones will showcase circular economy research, innovations and products from experts in the UK and Europe.

The Waste Zone seminar programme – Waste Talk – will see more than 50 industry-leading speakers over the next 3 days. The debates aim at addressing the challenges and opportunities a circular economy presents. The sessions will explore ways in which waste materials can be integrated into construction projects, how existing buildings can be deconstructed instead of demolished, and how new buildings can be designed as material stores for the future.

More on the Waste Zone:

‘Constructing a sustainable future’ – University of Brighton article

‘There’s money to be made in reusing existing buildings’ – Duncan Baker-Brown for AJ

FUTUREBUILD 2019 WASTE ZONE: DAY 1

05/03/2019

/ BBM Architects

The Waste Zone is underway – Tuesday 5th of March 2019 (Day 1)

WasteZone Website

Futurebuild 2019 Website

Location: Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London, E16 1XL

Planning your trip

Get your free visitor ticket

After much anticipation today marks the start of The WasteZone at this year’s Futurebuild. Tuesday’s Waste Talk Area will provide a platform for over 25 experts in sustainability from the UK, Denmark, Belgium and The Netherlands to exchange inspiring ideas on the circular economy. Among the topics for today: Responsible waste/resource management, Circular Cities and Low Carbon material options for construction industry. Each of the speakers will complete a short presentation on their chosen subject which will be followed by a debate and Q&A session.

The full discussions programme can be found here

More on the Waste Zone:

‘Constructing a sustainable future’ – University of Brighton article

‘There’s money to be made in reusing existing buildings’ – Duncan Baker-Brown for AJ

CHANGING PLANET SEMINAR WITH DUNCAN BAKER-BROWN

03/12/2018

/ BBM Architects

Duncan Invited to Speak at Imperial College London Grantham Institute

Date: 05 Dec 2018
Time: 16:00 – 17:00
Venue: Business School 200, LT2
The Grantham Institute is located in building is #21 on this map.
Campus: South Kensington Campus

Full details

This Wednesday Duncan will be a keynote speaker at “Changing Planet Seminar” hosted by The Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College. The subject of the seminar will revolve around the connection between the Designers, Products, Materials, Networks & Cities and examining their role in supporting the Circular Economy. It will also highlight the issue of new strategies for waste and disposable materials.

More details on subjects mentioned in the seminar can be found in The Re-Use Atlas: A designer’s guide to the circular economy

Duncan’s book is a highly illustrated ‘atlas’, taking the reader on a journey, via four distinct ‘steps’ (recycling, reuse, reduce, closed loop), from our current ‘linear economy’ towards a system emulating the natural world, i.e, a ‘circular economy’. The atlas features over 25 detailed case studies describing design exemplars from the worlds of textile & fashion design, product design, interior architecture, architecture and urban design. The purpose is to show designers how they can successfully navigate the emerging field of resource management and the circular economy.

The Grantham Changing Planet Seminars run on a monthly basis during term time. They are held in the Grantham Institute Boardroom, and are followed by a drinks reception. Organisation of the seminar series is student led and supported by the Grantham Institute. The aim is to complement the diversity of research at Imperial College London and promote links to the broader environmental community in UK and beyond.

THE WASTE ZONE AT FUTUREBUILD 2019

27/11/2018

/ BBM Architects

BBM returning to curate The Waste Zone once again

WasteZone Website

Futurebuild 2019 Website

Location: Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London, E16 1XL

Planning your trip

Dates: Tuesday 5th March until Thursday 7th March 2019

Get your free visitor ticket

Book a stand

THE WASTE ZONE AT FUTUREBUILD 2019

“Futurebuild is the evolution of ecobuild and fulfilment of the bold vision for the future that we first announced following the acquisition of the event at the end of 2016. Futurebuild 2019 brings together opinion-shapers, decision-makers and product innovators under a common purpose to explore the latest technologies and approaches, and debate the biggest issues facing the build environment – now and in the future – both in the UK and overseas.”

The Waste Zone will return to this year’s Futurebuild with new and extended features. Curated by our very own Duncan Baker-brown, the event space will contain a new Circular Economy Hub, a marketplace and new platform dedicated to direct interaction between visitors and manufacturers. This will allow for presentations of new and emerging materials, systems and groundbreaking ideas that will shape the future of sustainable construction industry. The Hub will be held in a unique and refreshing format of beach huts, developed and provided by the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Brighton. The exhibition space will be complemented by the Waste Zone seminar programme, which due to extraordinary success of 2018 will be further extended providing additional audience spaces. This years session will explore the ideas revolving around use of waste materials in the construction process and the use of existing and future buildings as material stores for the future.

With the focus is on creating a truly waste free experience, apart from the reusable exhibition beach huts, Futurebuild is also calling out for Cradle to Cradle Certified™ suppliers to provide their support in bring the Waste Zone to life.

The WasteZone discussions will be supported by an inspirational exhibition of the products, materials and buildings, as well as new digital platforms and films, which are enabling an emergent circular economy and proving “that there is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the ‘wrong place’.

THE WASTE ZONE AT FUTUREBUILD 2019

DUNCAN TO SPEAK AT UNMAKING WASTE 2018

20/09/2018

/ BBM Architects

Buildings as material banks: Designing for perceptual re-use

When: Conference runs from 20th-23rd September 2018

Duncan will be speaking on Friday 21st September at 15:45

Registration link

Location: University of South Australia (UniSA) Hawke Building, UniSA West Campus, Adelaide, SA, 5000

Full details

This Friday Duncan will be a keynote speaker at “The Unmaking Waste 2018” international conference in Adelaide. The conference will be hosted by the China-Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development and the University of South Australia.

“Building upon the achievements of our first conference, Unmaking Waste: Transforming Production and Consumption in Time and Place (May 2015), Unmaking Waste 2018 will be focused on the problem of consumption itself, and its role in increasing emissions, resource depletion and environmental degradation. The following themes will be addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective:

Eco-Design and Development:
Designing, defining and managing objects, buildings, precincts and systems to reduce resource and energy use, and thus increase environmental and human well-being.
Sustainable Consumption:
Transforming behaviour, social practices, everyday consumption and service provision, including marketing, to better suit a resource-constrained, environmentally challenged world.
Waste Minimization:
Reducing waste and pollution at all scales, in all domains and activities, and in all places, and transforming this waste and pollution into states of greater value for reuse.
Circular Economy:
Optimizing social, material and economic relations and the value of goods and services to further the goals of the Circular Economy, including product and environment life-extension, reuse and repair.”

Further details on the event can be found here.