Zero carbon in architecture and construction: challenges and unintended consequences

Exchanging value, connecting communities, creating opportunities

Set up in 2011 by Co-Founders and Co-Directors Mark Herring and Caroline Brock, Urbano Network is an independent business networking community, connecting companies of all sizes and sectors from PLCs to SMEs, in London, the UK and beyond.

Urbano Network consists of different Communities: Build, Create-Media, Finance, Legal & Professional Services, People, Tech & Telecoms, UWACTE (Urbano Women In Architecture, Construction, Technology & Engineering) & Zero Carbon. 

Urbano’s focus is to help our members and those that represent them to connect, engage, and find new business opportunities. All events on our diverse calendar are primarily designed as catalysts to connections for our members, but also to introduce non-members to our events and the community, alongside the chance to hear from our speakers. 

We have a proud record of championing issues such as zero carbon and sustainability, diversity and inclusion, workplace wellbeing and new technology – and often before others - because we believe this gives SME’s a platform as specialists to showcase themselves to larger companies and offer approaches and services not found in the corporate world. 

We are also pro-active and motivated, making introductions outside of events between members where we see value. We also offer a range of member services, including Tenders & Opportunities Notices.

Our speakers for this event are Sofie Pelsmakers and Ming Hu.

Sofie Pelsmakers first spoke at an Urbano Zero Carbon/Build & UWACTE  event in 2013, following the publication of her book The Environmental Design Pocket(now on it's 2nd edition!). An expert in sustainable design and architecture, she is co-founder of Architecture for Change, a not-for-profit environmental building and research organisation, with the mission of challenging the way we design and build.

She is now Assistant Professor of Sustainable Housing Design/Architecture at Tampere University in Finland and is co-author of  the new book, Everything Needs to Change: Architecture and the Climate Emergency from RIBA Publishing.

Joining Sofie on this special event will be Ming Hu, Assistant Professor at School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland.

Ming specialises in high-performance building design, parametric modelling, Life Cycle assessment and building performance measurement.

Ming is author of Net Zero Energy Building: Predicted and Unintended Consequences.

Ming & Sofie will explore the theme of 'Zero Carbon in Architecture & Construction: Challenges and Unintended Consequences' and offer us a global perspective on how different countries address the need to meet Paris Agreement climate change commitments.

** This event is free for representatives of Urbano Member Companies, who also get exclusive access to the profiles of other attendees and speakers including contact data. Urbano is a membership organisation and offers non-member companies three places at our events before they need to demonstrate theirt own commitments to sustainability by joining Urbano because our supporters and members make therse events happen.

To find out why, please click here.