How can we minimize the ecological footprint and maximize the human handprint of our building materials?  A building’s impact extends well beyond its site boundaries to include the local community where materials are sourced and processed, and the hands through which they pass.  The construction of buildings accounts for over one-third of global materials use each year.  This consumption - often extractive, emissive and exploitative - contributes significantly to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and forced labor.  Starting the design process with intimate knowledge of place, asking what materials are available and who can co-create them, leads to a very different outcome, one that not only reduces harm but lifts up local voices, amplifies culture, and creates jobs and livelihoods.  This panel of practitioners will discuss the regenerative outcomes that are possible with a design approach that considers both footprint and handprint.

Speakers:

• Kelly Alvarez Doran, Senior Fellow, Architecture 2030

• Cid Blanco, UIA

• Kotchakorn Voraarkhom, Porous City Network

• Thabo Lenneiye, PennPraxis

• Lisa Richmond, Senior Fellow, Architecture 2030