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In
Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future, seasoned architect and former AIA president Carl Elefante addresses how buildings and cities can and must help resolve the looming climate emergency.
For architects and the countless others who work together creating human habitation, the twenty-first century imperatives demand a profound mode shift, from an expansion mindset to one of reintegration and healing.
Elefante explains that revitalizing communities by optimizing existing resources makes social, economic, and environmental sense and directs resources where they are most needed. He offers a decidedly alternative viewpoint, one informed by his career rescuing buildings from demolition and learning from the practices and wisdom embedded in built heritage.
In
Going for Zero Elefante offers a message of hope, with the urgency to act now.
About the author
Known worldwide for coining the phrase: "the greenest building is...one that is already built," Carl Elefante practiced architecture at the intersection of sustainable design and historic preservation. A Principal Emeritus with Quinn Evans, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2024 Firm Award recipient, Carl designed noteworthy projects during a decades-long architectural career. In 2018, Carl served as the President of AIA, the highlight of many leadership roles in professional associations. Carl is a Fellow of both the AIA and the Association for Preservation Technology (APT). Among several teaching positions, in 2023-24 Carl served as the inaugural Visiting Scholar at the Michael Christopher Duda Center for Preservation, Resilience, and Sustainability at the University of Notre Dame. Carl is a Senior Fellow with Architecture 2030 and a charter member of the Climate Heritage Network.
