The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)  is best known for tracking building height and acting as “the global authority that bestows titles such as ‘The World’s Tallest Building.'” They describe themselves as: “The world’s leading nonprofit organization for all those interested in the future of cities. It explores how increased urban density and vertical growth can support more sustainable and healthy cities, especially in the face of mass urbanization and the increasing effects of climate change worldwide.”

However, many are now questioning whether vertical growth is the best way to build sustainably or increase urban density. Architects Declare, described as a network of architectural practices committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency, wrote to the CTBUH and suggested they change their tune and stop praising tall buildings.

They acknowledge the wonder and power of skyscrapers, but note in their open letter:

“Times however, have changed, and skyscrapers are no longer what they were. We are now in a planetary emergency and we have very few years left in which to chart a new and safe course for humanity. The evidence now is overwhelming that tall buildings hinder, rather than assist, our efforts to address key challenges of climate breakdown, resource depletion and biodiversity loss.”

Architects Declare points to studies that show that office buildings with more than 20 stories use two and a half times as much electricity as buildings less than six stories. “The unavoidable fact is that, in terms of resource efficiency, the embodied carbon in their construction and energy consumption in use, skyscrapers are an absurdity,” wrote the group.

Keep reading on treehugger.com

• 
•