Faced with the heat wave, the architects of the STUDIOS Architecture collective detail 10 simple and concrete measures to make the city green and low carbon

For STUDIOS, the urgency is to return to common-sense architecture, which reconciles town planning with climate issues. Force of proposal, the collective of architects details 10 simple and concrete measures to make the city green and low carbon.

• Greening the city and in particular the roofs, a short-term action that offers many advantages: to cool the buildings, to capture the water from storms and reduce the effect of the torrential rains that generally follow the high temperatures,
• Favor light colors to limit heat capture, with for example white zinc, typical of Haussmann architecture in large cities,
• Restructure rather than build new buildings: to fight against the artificialization of soils and reduce the carbon impact of structures,
• Make buildings reversible, to stop building to deconstruct. Because today's architecture must not only meet current needs but also be able to adapt in the next 50 or 100 years,
• Develop mixed programs, combining housing / offices / shops & services, which make it possible to give up certain journeys according to the precepts of the "City of 1⁄4 hour",
• Choose locally biosourced materials. Sustainable architecture is one that uses the right material in the right place. We favor natural materials, such as wood or hemp. And also favor French and European suppliers, to limit the carbon impact of transport,
• Promote solutions for the reuse and recycling of materials, such as deconstructed concrete for road beds, an alternative to the systematized bitumen in our cities,

Reduce the energy consumption of buildings through a bioclimatic approach. The most sustainable energy is that which we do not consume. This is why STUDIOS defends a frugal architecture which, in the very design of the building, takes advantage of the immediate environment and minimizes energy consumption thanks to its orientation, its insulation, the natural ventilation between the spaces. The agency is actively working on "free cooling", an intensive ventilation method which consists of cooling a building by ventilation using the energy of the outside air at night,

• Make buildings self-sufficient If buildings need to consume less energy, they can also produce it! We implement many solutions, from the installation of photovoltaic panels to the recovery of energy released by computer units.
• Finally, change our habits! We will have to get used to living with a few more degrees, a few weeks in the year. The systematization of air conditioning will have to give way to common sense gestures. Are we ready to forego a little comfort to do our part for the planet.

STUDIOS Architecture has been a signatory of the AIA 2030 Challenge for 20 years, with the objective of making buildings carbon neutral by 2030.