Lori Ferriss

Building Reuse is Climate Action

Please join us for a lunch lecture by Lori Ferriss, a global leader in sustainable stewardship of the built environment.

According the UN Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction’s 2023 Global Status Report, the building sector is not on track to meet climate targets. It is increasingly clear that the historic and existing built environment holds key solutions, both through decarbonization and improved climate resilience, but by elevating traditional knowledge about more sustainable ways to live and build. The field of preservation is uniquely poised to lead in the responsible reuse of existing buildings for an equitable, beautiful, and resilient future.

This lecture will lay out the importance of building reuse as climate action and present tools and methods to quantify the climate benefits of retaining and upgrading existing and historic buildings. Following the lecture, there will be a workshop in the HP Studio. There is limited space for students to attend the lecture, registration is required. If you are interested in attending the lecture, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/DkGkg8rhret1AVp7A.

Lori Ferriss’ award-winning work as an architect, structural engineer and conservator combines broad policy development with deep technical insights to promote a culturally and environmentally sustainable world through design. Her work establishing carbon accounting methods for historic buildings has been featured in publications ranging from the Journal of Architectural Conservation to Architect Magazine and presented on-stage at the United Nations COP28 climate conference.

She is also a Design Teaching and Research Fellow at Northeastern University and a Principal Consultant with the Cameron MacAllister Group. She is the past Chair of the AIA Committee on the Environment, a Steering Committee representative of the Climate Heritage Network, an expert member on the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Energy, Sustainability and Climate Change, and a Senior Fellow of Architecture 2030.