London 2017
Living and Sustainability

An Environmental Critique
Event Date: February 9-10, 2017
Abstract Date: October 30, 2016
Keynote
Paul Allen. Project Coordinator, Zero Carbon Britain, Centre for Alternative Technology

Professor Andy Ford. Director. Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB)

Call

Estimates of the building industry’s contribution to world carbon emissions reach as high as 30% worldwide – with figures on energy consumption in the region of 40%. Given the scale of the industry’s contribution to these figures it is obvious that we cannot ensure a sustainable planet without addressing the practices, materials and legacy of our building industries, our cites and our buildings.

However, key to a sustainable future are also related social questions. The sustainability of communities is one of the most basic components of the quality of life and opportunity. Badly planned developments can not only lead to the destruction of habitats, they bring unaffordable housing, displaced communities and negative effects on physical health.

Hosted in London, this conference is concerned with the broad range of issues that affect the cities of advanced economies, the metropoles of new economic powerhouses, and the conurbations of the developing world.

In a context of resurgent commercial construction in industrialised economies, increased government targets for the building of houses across Europe, and the UN Environment Programme argument that we need to cut the world’s carbon emissions to zero by 2064 this conference has multiple aims. It seeks to share advances in the retrofitting of houses in the UK, new ideas for environmentally efficient buildings from Sweden, and the latest developments in Zero Carbon construction from the United States.

It also welcomes questions on issues like the self-build practices of housing and urban developments in the outskirts of Rio; how solar technologies employed in office buildings in Melbourne can be appropriated for residential buildings in Georgia or Moscow? Do low-tec flood defences in Sri Lanka offer ideas for the floodplain developments in the UK?

Issues and questions such as these can also be framed in larger contexts: What initiatives are Western governments supporting to meet carbon reduction targets? How can the developed commercial housing markets of Europe and North America profitably incorporate more sustainable practices? What are the emerging environmental building practices from the Pacific Rim that are most applicable in the global north? Can Europe’s building industry offer technical assistance to other nations, open new markets and learn from old techniques simultaneously?

Disciplines

  • Environmental engineers
  • Sustainable architects
  • Urban planners
  • Infrastructure designers
  • Building technologists
  • Policy makers and others.

Key Dates

Abstract Submissions
30 October 2016
Abstract Feedback
15 November 2016
Registration closes
20 January 2017
Full Paper Submissions (where applicable)
15 April 2017
Feedback for publication
01 July 2017
Publication of Full papers
01 October 2017

Themes

Eco Construction
We seek detail on eco-retrofit; building sustainability assessment tools; construction engineering; eco-materials and technologies; life cycle analysis etc.
Sustainable Cities
We welcome scholars dealing with resilience; adapting to climate change; effective public transit; low-tec, low-cost self -build etc.
Zero Carbon Britain
We invite contributions on the flagship research project from the Centre for Alternative Technology
CEREB
We welcome papers on themes of the Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings including renewable and intelligent energy solutions for the built environment.
Sustainable Communities
We invite papers on participatory planning; social inclusion, affordable housing; design for life etc.

Formats

Delegates are given the option to present their work at conference either with or without an accompanying full written paper.

The conference welcomes case studies; design proposals, research projects, investigative papers and theoretical considerations in various formats

Conference Presentations (20 minutes)
Written Papers (3,000 words) *
In-person and virtual presentations (via Skype, etc.) are welcome.
Written Paper

Publications

The publishers that AMPS works with include UCL Press, Routledge Taylor & Francis, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Vernon Press, Libri Publishing and Intellect Books.

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Conference outputs include the AMPS Proceedings Series, ISSN 2398-9467; Special Issue Publications of the academic journal Architecture_MPS ISSN 2020-9006; Books with the publishing houses listed above and short films available on the AMPS Academic YouTube Channel.

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Written papers are optional.  If submitted they should be 3,000 word length. Formatting instructions to follow after the conference. All papers are double- blind peer reviewed for the AMPS Conference Proceedings Series. Subject to review, selected authors will be invited to develop longer versions as articles in the academic journal Architecture_MPS or in specially produced conference books.

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Image: Steve Cadman, Robin Hood Gardens, London