Decarbonization is the process of reducing the carbon emissions produced by the construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings. This is becoming increasingly important as the built environment is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for almost 40% of total energy-related emissions. Decarbonizing buildings is a critical step in the transition to a low-carbon future and is necessary to meet global climate goals.

The world’s top climate scientists are clear; the rapidly changing climate imperils our collective future, as well as that of the creatures we share this planet with. The scientific consensus on this point is stronger than on the question of whether smoking causes lung cancer.

Every major health organization in the world, starting with the WHO, and the International Hospital Federation, have taken the position that humanity must act to prevent this current, and rapidly expanding public health crisis.

Every major engineering and design organization in the world, starting with the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering, have taken the position that humanity must act to prevent this current, and rapidly expanding public health crisis.

The leading US voice on design of energy systems, ASHRAE, has taken the position that by 2030, we must reduce our collective carbon footprint at least 50%. That means that we must stop digging the hole deeper; everything new that we do must use zero carbon. And we must also reduce 50% of what we are already doing.

The challenge seems almost hopeless.

And yet, it is not too late.

If every one of us rises to the challenge, and if every one of us reaches out a hand and helps each other, we can find our way to a better future. Every molecule of carbon dioxide that we keep out of the atmosphere will matter.

Pessimists are usually right. But all great changes have been accomplished by optimists.

We must be the community of optimists, and we must rally others to the cause. Our children will thank us.

Human beings do not perceive exponential change well. We are linear creatures, and we experience things through a linear filter, complete with status quo bias. These human frailties make it hard for us to see the change we are living through at this moment, and, when we are able to get a glimpse, the prospect is so frightening as to shut us down.

The climate is changing at an exponential rate.

Some people believe that the right response is to harden our buildings; to invest, if at all, into resilience strategies. The problem with this response is that, faced with exponential change, we can never outrun the accelerating problem. This is especially true when considering that the impacts of the changing climate are not simply the severe weather events that will batter our healthcare buildings with increased frequency and ferocity. The impacts of the changing climate are weakening our social structures and sending waves of migrants from areas more severely impacted, and less able to deal with these impacts.

The authors have done work in Sierra Leone, to bring solar power to hospitals. In Sierra Leone, the dry seasons are getting dryer and longer, the wet seasons shorter and more intense. During summers, the crops die, and food becomes scarce. Water is unavailable for basic human needs. During the winter, the increasing rainfall floods the bodies of water and washes away topsoil. Villages collapse. People go – where?

We will never outrun the changing climate by investing in resilience, or at least, not in resilience only.

Our only reasonable path forward is to decarbonize. 50% by 2030. Stop digging the hole deeper – make every new thing we do zero carbon. And reduce what we are already doing by 50%.

That is our call.

We are engineers, we are problem solvers. We are a community of designers and healers. Together, we can learn from each other, we can take inspiration from each other, we can build hope and we can build a future.

We can think about all the reasons we can’t do something. This effort is focused on all the ways we can.

Join us.