Sustainability matters, it is a matter of survival. For Carlo Battisti, President at Living Future Europe this is essential. We cannot design or build without considering this.

We already know the solutions, we need to implement them.

Carlo co-founded the Biophilic Society and coordinates LFE biophilic design strategy. “There are so many global issues to solve, our responsibility must start from the built environment, we know that 40% of emissions come from built environment and these have an impact on global issues.”

Each time we build, we start from scratch which means it’s difficult to standardise the processes, also the sector is so slow to change, but the built environment shapes the way we are living.

Carlo tells us about his experience and also about the Living Building challenge framework which was developed in 2006. We are now at the 4th version of the standard which was published in 2019. Biophilic Design has always been a core part of this framework. If we design and build with a better connection to nature, using natural light, better airflow, etc, there will be better energy consumption, greater energy efficiency. Also of course, there are lots of studies which show that bringing sufficient daylight into enclosed spaces, for instance in schools or hospitals, patients recover quicker, students learn faster in classrooms. There is such interesting and robust data.

The Biophilic Summit is taking place on 7th June 2023. The details of the summit programme and how to register can be found here: https://lfeurope.regfox.com/biophilia-summit-2023

Our editor, Dr Vanessa Champion will be moderating the Round table at the close of the event. Also speaking at the event will be two Stephen R. Kellert award winners from 2022 and 2023. The designers of the Railway station in Japan, JR Jumamoto Railway Station (2022 winner). Also the architect who worked on the school in the Netherlands, De Verwondering which won the SKBDA 2023 both European and the Global category. Check out the SKBDA 2023 Europe finalists videos.

Do have a look at the Biophilic Society, which, Carlo describes as a living system of passionate people all over the world, meeting once a month, looking at best practice, etc. https://www.living-future.eu/biophilic-society/

Some helpful links: