AIA UK - Navigating a Pathway to Net Zero
Speaker
Lucy Townsend, MIEMA CEnv, BREEAM AP, LEED AP, WELL AP, Sustainability Associate, BDP
Moderator: Dr Mark E Breeze, AIA, AIA UK Sustainability Chair, Principal, Spatial Realities
CES: 1.0 LU/ HSW for AIA Members
Event Description
A renewed approach to design, operation and construction is required to meet national carbon emission reduction targets and align with industry best practice. Utilising a unique position of sitting at the heart of a large multi-disciplinary urban design practice, Lucy will provide an insight into the key components of a net zero approach in the built environment, including the experiences and challenges faced. Lucy will also discuss the definitions of a net zero carbon building and whether the ‘net’ element gives designers and clients an offsetting get-out clause.
Speaker Bios
Lucy Townsend, MIEMA CEnv, BREEAM AP, LEED AP, WELL AP, Sustainability Associate, BDP
Lucy Townsend is a Sustainability Associate based in BDP’s London Studio. Since joining BDP 7 years ago, Lucy has been instrumental in the development of BDP’s specialist sustainability group. Committed to ensuring core sustainable values are embedded in the design and use of buildings and communities, Lucy is passionate about seeking innovative solutions which drive more efficient ways of working, produce better buildings and improve the wellbeing of occupants.
Lucy’s ability to influence and improve the performance of projects is evident through her successful delivery of a wide range of projects. She is currently the lead sustainability consultant for a world leading low carbon retrofit project which will become the headquarters for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. The role sees her working closely with the design team to drive innovation and share lessons learnt to promote and encourage sustainable retrofits. Lucy is also leading the sustainability strategy for the adaptation and conservation of a number of historic buildings for the House of Commons.
Keen to encourage more women into the field of sustainability and engineering, Lucy wants to share and impart her knowledge in others. In 2019, she was selected to take part in BDP’s career mentoring pilot, focused specifically on supporting women to progress to senior positions within the organisation, and is using this experience to mentor junior employees. In 2020, Lucy won the award for best woman in environment and sustainability at the Women in Construction and Engineering (WICE) awards.
Moderator: Dr Mark E Breeze, AIA, AIA UK Sustainability Chair, Principal, Spatial Realities
Dr Mark E Breeze, AIA is a Harvard-trained architect and an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker who combines interdisciplinary practice (Principal, Spatial Realities), research (Founding Chair, University of Cambridge Sustainable Shelter Group), teaching (Studio Master, Architectural Association), and environmental design advocacy (Founding UK Sustainability Chair, American Institute of Architects). Working at the intersection of architecture and film his current work explores the theories, practices, and forms of sustainable shelter. Recent outputs includes the award-winning documentary film Shelter Without Shelter (2020); the edited collection Structures of Protection? Rethinking Refugee Shelter (Berghahn, 2020); Forms of the Cinematic: Architecture, Science, and the Arts (Bloomsbury, 2021); and contributions to the IWM London exhibition Refugees: Forced to Flee (2020). He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement.
