In November, the Paris Agreement came into force with the opening of the Conference of the Parties (COP) 22 meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco. The nations that have signed on represent more than 55 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One such signatory is Canada, which has joined the global community in striving to keeping the global temperature rise this century below 1.5 C (2.7 F).
Much attention has recently been given to the negotiations in France that resulted in the unprecedented Paris Agreement to combat climate change. This agreement, which limits the global average temperature rise to “well below” 2 C (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures, will move designers to elevate new and existing building performance in two distinct ways: construction and resilience.