Video: Reduce carbon footprint of product manufacturing, says Architecture 2030 founder

The building sector is key to addressing climate change, said Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, during his presentation "Architecture on the Brink" at the first annual NGA Architects Forum at GlassBuild America. Architecture 2030 challenges designers and building owners to produce carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030.

"The road to energy independence, economic recovery and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions runs through the Building Sector," Mazria said. "Consider this: the first day a building is occupied, all of the carbon emissions from that building come from building products and the building process."

Mazria said the glass industry serves an important role in helping reach the goals of Architecture 2030, not just in the products supplied, but also by greening the manufacturing process.

The glass industry has contributed in "all sorts of ways to develop and design products for a new type of building that's essentially moving to zero net energy or carbon neutral," Mazria said. "But I think the key element in all of this is that the product manufacturers actually reduce the carbon footprint of the products they manufacture, from extraction all the way through to taking down the product, disposal or reuse."