Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

The National University of Singapore walks the talk of sustainable design with the net-zero, low-carbon renovation of the School of Design and Environment 1 and 3

- Luo Jingmei

“Decarbonisation, the process of phasing out fossil fuel use from architecture, is not only a performative question but also holds implications for culture, design practices and modes of living. Reducing operational carbon (the carbon released to produce energy consumed for building operations) and embodied carbon (the carbon produced from construction processes and materials) is at the heart of this process, requiring significant and complex cultural change that impacts expectations of comfort and how buildings are inhabited. Educational institutions, especially schools of architecture, design and the built environment have an important task a hand in propelling this cultural shift through their communities. In order to move forward, this movement needs to be consciously integrated into pedagogies and present in learning environments to a perceptible degree,” writes Erik L’Heureux and Giovanni Cossu in the Prologue of ‘Renovating Carbon’.

The tome accompanies the net-zero, super-low carbon renovation of the National University of Singapore’s SDE (School of Design and Environment) 1 and 3, which has since 2022 been subsumed into the new College of Design and Engineering. Erik L’Heureux – a Dean’s Chair Associate Professor at the school – helped lead a large design and research team alongside Cossu (an associate director of Sustainability Services at NUS), and Bertrand Lasternas (an associate director at NUS) who co-created the renovation with architecture firm CPG Consultants from 2015 to 2023.