The climate crisis is a fact: or we change our ways to produce, consume and discard NOW, or are we doomed to a very black future with regard to biodiversity, the weather and the health of the planet in general.
And yet, how many times did you disobey your parents that They told you "son, not that way... you're going to hit it...". The Humans are wonderful beings in some respects, but in others we can become quite stubborn. And when we speak of masses of humans, the virtues and defects only intensify.
It is clear that the buildings we design should be more sustainable. That the buildings that already exist should reduce your consumption. That we should directly build less square meter. That the reduction, recycling and reuse should be an essential part of the processes of creation. What… an endless number of more measures.
But after finding out that most architects who try to make their way in the field of sustainability end up talking to themselves with their budget in hand, I do the next question:
Really the market (who are people of flesh and blood) do they have these needs? The developers, the builders, the companies, the users on foot... Doña Carmen, 56 years old, who lives in a third and makes the best croquettes in the world building?
I would like to think so, but the reality is different.
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If there's one thing I know, it's that the new generation of architects to which I belong, we have not had a good time professional level.
And when the horizon of sustainability, a vast ocean and extensive barely explored by the competition opened before our eyes, many of us finally saw the opportunity that we hoped to provide valuable services with which contribute to improving the world... and get paid for it decently.
But it hasn't been as promising as it seemed. every week i meeting with various colleagues who offer services of this kind type and they barely live because they can hardly close clients that want to pay sustainability .
We try to convince people to install this or that product by showing them how much it would save on the utility bill. light, we stayed without sleep the night before to introduce promoter the ROI of the "most efficient" proposal, we We fight with the neighboring communities to move forward with the solar panel project, we threaten the builders to that they follow the waste management project to the letter, we cry to the autonomous communities to approve grants for energy efficiency projects…it seems that this sustainability thing is not easy.
As many of you already know, I neither eat nor celebrate nor do I practice complaint. Instead, me and the architects with whom work we are transforming the paradigm of our profession, precisely to change what we do not like and make this a more sustainable professional reality, also in the field of sustainability.
And I want to contribute what for me are the two reasons main difficulty so great that right now finds sustainability to break through in the market.
The other day I bought a coffee to go; they gave me a glass double for the heat, lid, napkin, sugar, stick for stir and even a straw. The only thing I didn't throw away was the coffee that I drank And look, I was walking down the street and I started to feel a bit of…let's call it shame.
Yes, I am a millennial and our grade awareness of the climate crisis is higher than that of the generation of my mother (for example, that goes with her coffee from plastic so quiet down the street) and of course the one in the generation of my grandmother (who by the way her consumption habit is much more sustainable than my mother's generation or the mine).
But the truth is that none of these three generations we have a level of consciousness loud enough about this climate problem to pay XXXX€ in a sustainable roll or some ecological project. Because? We just don't feel the same urgency as Greta Thunberg because we were born in a world with other very different.
That is, the people who represent the market today are fundamentally my generation, my mother's and if anything my grandmother. Greta has arrived, but her generation will take a few years to achieve the purchasing power necessary to decide what to buy.
When that time comes, which I estimate will be in about 5-10 years, we will live the true revolution of the sustainability: a large majority of people who pay much more for sustainable measures .
But for now we live another story.
Of course, to talk about generations it is necessary generalize. The exceptions and singular cases, although are laudable, they do not represent the majority and therefore none Market trend .
The second main reason why sustainability is a difficult field right now is devastatingly elementary: not seen.
The proper functioning of the facilities in a home it is essential for the quality of life within it; however It never ceases to amaze me how many customers skimp in wiring, piping, appliances, or technology during a reform, for example. We can pay a million for a ceramic for the bathroom and then take the cheapest thermos in Leroy Merlin; most likely we are willing to sacrifice that A+++ thermos for some slippers for Christmas.
And it is that one of the main engines of the market is the acquisition of status . Everything you buy everything I buy, we do it because in one way or another gives us status – the status to which each aspire .
The generations that make up the current market fabric We were born and grew up with certain values and with an idea of status. determined. Of course my mother's generation did not know feel better about herself for having a hyper low thermos consumption, much less if it is not seen and nobody else knows about it.
Maybe a percentage of my generation began to find status and affinity with our values in this kind of thing... and I can surely tell you that for the next generations this will be ethically and morally a must . And about everything, if it is seen: in the app that you have on your mobile, in the brand of lighting fixtures you use, in the amount of garbage you throw per the nights…
But at the moment it is not seen, or it is not taught – which is not what myself.
From my research and work done with various dozens of architects to help them achieve and consolidate their professional independence in multiple branches , including sustainability, I would like to provide you with some outputs/solutions so that you can start to make this field a more sustainable reality also for your profession as an architect:
Maybe it's too early for the green revolution you've been waiting for. A thing is what the newspapers and climate summits say, and a very different one is the real pulse of the people on the street. Have a little patience and try to understand what is coming to you. I am explaining: the movements of the market .
Don't try to convince anyone; instead try read your real needs. Maybe people don't want that hyper-low consumption thermos hidden in a dark closet, but they do want a super lamp cool made from recycled tires hanging in your living room.
Maybe people don't want to be dealing with the entire community of neighbors, but they do want to have the house with the cheapest electricity bill in the entire building.
Don't dictate your sustainability; better put yourself in their shoes and dance with them.
We can also change our crosshairs and aim at other niches that are now more prepared for the change. A A good question to locate these possible niches would be: who has palpable and extremely attractive today for being sustainable?
For example, I'm sure you've seen the latest Chanel or Patagonia campaigns. These and many other brands of clothes and cosmetics should be put on batteries with the sustainability if they want to start permeating the conscience of the coming generations that do find status in it. AND These brands have stores, spaces, facilities, materials, logistics, waste, production... maybe some architect dares to propose something.
Other examples I've worked on with various architects can be the food industry, mobility urban or rural world. And it is that sustainability has many battlefields.
Architects have the ability to transform the world, each one in his small parcel contributes to this change. But if we go around imposing what must be done and selling things that people do not want, it will be impossible transform nothing. We need people.
Your responsibility with sustainability is in learn to read the current market . But you learn to see where the real needs of today are in this field, sustainability will have it even more difficult for break through. We need to silence our modus operandi, hear where you can fit in, see to make us see.
In short, sustainability is a necessity for the planet and it will be a necessity for people soon. As architects have the duty and the ability to promote this trend in the market to improve things, but not at the expense of our professional health.
Why? Because it is not sustainable. Those architects who cannot live from sustainability are missing out on a fantastic opportunity to help to real people, that is, from where those people meet.
If you're having a hard time finding real customers who get paid for your work in the field of sustainability, it is Time to refocus your strategy. And if you are also committed with your professional career and you want to make it more sustainable, then I can help you.
If you want to know new challenges and opportunities, You can find me on my website from HERE. Tell me your story, that the future does not wait!
