Environmental Policy

“Consideration and care for the biosphere is essentially our practice’s design ethos.” IR 1994

ritchie*studio has formal ISO 14001: 2015 accreditation.

The climate change-emergency poses potentially catastrophic risks to the biosphere and our way of life on Earth. Universally agreed ‘Net zero’ is a goal we support; without policies that will rapidly transform how we produce and consume energy, pollute, and how businesses operate within society, all our futures are insecure. The challenge is how to change and to help implement this goal in an incredibly complex global situation, but a vitally necessary task which will require rapid changes in human thought and behaviour.

ritchie*studio has been committed to an environmentally sustainable design approach since the practice was established in 1981. Our projects testify to our philosophy not to waste and to construct buildings that optimise carbon free energy and minimise energy bills. We investigate and assess and, when appropriate, embrace the latest advances in engineering and environmental technology which are intelligent and relevant.

Ian Ritchie chaired the launch of the first global book on sustainability ‘Blueprint for A Green Planet’ by Seymour, Girardet and Penney, at The Ecology Centre, London, 1987.

Since 1990, we have sought even more to use materials and products that use less energy in their manufacture and use and which require little or no maintenance. Well before sustainability was on any government agenda, Ian Ritchie was lecturing on the subject using his own projects as exemplars, beginning with low-cost, self-construct, passive and active solar energy housing (Fluy 1976; Eagle Rock House 1981).  We also designed a zero-energy cultural greenhouse (theatre/exhibition space, France 1993) which was the only building finalist in the global Design Sense Award sponsored by Corus and the Design Museum.

ritchie*studio are a signatory to Architects Declare and the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, and Ian Ritchie is a Global Returns Project Ambassador.

‘Net Zero’ targets are announced almost daily and the term has several meanings, and is now synonymous with climate leadership. But what do these targets mean and how can designers, companies, cities, and regions achieve their Net Zero aspirations? Unambiguous language is needed.

‘Net Zero’ at a macro-level means achieving a balance between the amount of CO2 emissions produced and those removed from the atmosphere in order to reduce global warming.  It means at a micro-level that we, as architects designing buildings, should aim to achieve buildings that reduce the amount of embodied carbon in the building’s construction and the operational carbon in use.  This is where people’s thoughts, values and actions matter. Carbon whole life-cycle understanding and assessment is vital in every design.

And as a company, to reach a state of net zero emissions implies that we establish a baseline footprint for both operational and value chain* emissions, and then measure our performance in reaching net-zero.

* A value chain is a step-by-step business model for transforming a product or service from idea to reality.