Kennedy Nolan are certified carbon neutral
Director of Architecture, Victoria Reeves sat down with the Australian Institute of Architects to discuss carbon neutral certification with a view to tackling more complex, and exciting, sustainability challenges.
Taking the practice carbon neutral was a very straight forward process. At Kennedy Nolan we understand being carbon neutral as just a starting point for the much bigger impact that we can have as an operation.
Being carbon neutral implies a level of commitment and credibility. When we speak to consultants, suppliers and clients, it creates a dynamic that has influence. Since going carbon neutral, we find that we now ask the businesses we work with if they’re carbon certified and simply asking that question can be quite persuasive. In the 80s after everyone started buying recycled paper, we eventually reached a point where people just wouldn’t buy anything else – we hope that this is the kind of cultural change the carbon neutral movement will inspire. We often work with clients who are part of really big organisations and if they were to pursue carbon neutral certification it would be hugely impactful – we think carbon neutral is a good badge to wear.
We’re certainly conscious though that it’s not where we can stop. Once we were carbon neutral certified, our next goal was to deliver a carbon zero project. We recently won a competition for a building with a carbon zero target and we’re discovering that it’s much more complex to count the carbon in that context than it is to count the carbon in an office – so it’s an interesting challenge. The team at Kennedy Nolan are quite aware that much of our influence as designers comes into play when we’re specifying, so that’s what we’re focusing on now and the carbon zero process and audit is a good catalyst for that.
Taking your practice carbon neutral is a terrific and very manageable steppingstone to the more challenging areas that, as a practice, we’re all actually going to really enjoy taking on next. And those next steps don’t seem daunting – they seem essential and exciting.
Our commitment to climate action
The Australian Institute of Architects is supporting all members in their shift to becoming carbon neutral – it’s the simplest step towards reaching zero.
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