Reserve your place at this free event. Morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided.
TEA Talks
Technology, Environment and Architecture
Welcome to TEA Talks. A series of informal talks from our School of Architecture on the theme of Technology, the Environment, and the role of Architecture, now and in the future.
TEA talks | Material Reuse and Material Passports 3rd November 2023 | Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University
This session will bring together experts from academia, practice and industry to present and discuss what are the key measures to accelerate material reuse in construction, use material passports and create a circular economy.
Embodied carbon in the construction phase of a building's life typically equates to 50%/70% of its total life cycle emissions. Therefore, the focus on embodied carbon is a fundamental step towards meeting the Net Zero targets defined by the UK government. Since 80% of buildings that will exist in 2050 have been already built, it is imperative that we make the most of the material already in existence and avoid exploration of raw materials. Re-use of construction materials is the most energy-efficient solution for a circular economy, ensuring material value is preserved as long as possible. The use of reused materials in construction has the potential of reducing the embodied carbon of construction and could minimise the extraction and production of virgin materials as well as reducing construction waste.
The programme for our next TEA talk will be shared soon.
Talks from our previous events
TEA Talks from our previous events appear at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSIIk0il6K4Vsfy4VStWXg
The climate emergency - Professor Simon Guy
When setting up the new school of architecture at Lancaster University a foundational commitment has been to address the ‘climate emergency’. But in an era when every architect would claim to be ‘green’, what does embracing sustainability actually involve architecturally?
999 what's your emergency? - Mark Slocombe
Architects hold the skills, tools and belief to drive change for good. How can we work with clients, design teams and authorities to help implement positive solutions to make a meaningful difference at a time of increased urban growth and a just in time delivery culture?
People - Dr Ana Rute Costa
A talk from Lancaster University architecture lecturer Dr Ana Rute Costa.
Ethics - Professor Deyan Sudjic
From Zaha Hadid’s cultural centre in Baku for Aliyev family, to Hannes Meyer’s work for Stalin in Moscow, architects have always found themselves working with problematic clients. How should we see their behaviour? Is there a difference between designing an interrogation cell for Saddam Hussein’s secret police, and an airport?
Place - Zoe Hooton
A talk from HEA Architects' Zoe Hooton.
Research - Dr Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs
Often domestic energy research focuses on making changes to the physical house and overlooks questions of lifestyle or changing expectations of our homes. This talk offers one poignant example of how the dominance of techno-economic research fails to attend to why demand for energy occurs in the first place.
Radical Creativity - Professor Ruth Dalton
A talk from Lancaster University architecture lecturer Professor Ruth Dalton.