Episode 032 | Alex Lukachko: Designing Buildings For The Long Term

TWENTY FIRST CENTURY IMPERATIVE Podcast

In this episode I talk with Alex Lukachko. In our conversation, Alex talks about the rapid change that we face within the design and construction industry as we try to move the entire industry towards the goal of zero-carbon (and perhaps restorative construction) that we need to address the climate crisis. He talks about the challenges of designing buildings for the long-term, but he also talks about opportunities to help this effort if we look to the past.

We also talked about what gives Alex hope, and keeps him going when things look dark, and the advice he would offer listeners about what they can do to be part of making a difference in meeting the challenges of the Twenty First Century Imperative.

Alex is a Principal at RDH Building Science Inc. and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s John H Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Alex is well known in Canada’s building industry as an important thought-leader in building science, zero-carbon building design, and climate change adaptation.

An architect by training, with degrees in both philosophy and architecture, from the University of Waterloo, Alex currently leads an interdisciplinary consulting team at RDH in Toronto that works on advanced, net-zero carbon buildings.

Alex works with multi-disciplinary design teams, and industry stakeholders, for both new buildings and for deep-energy retrofits of existing buildings. This gives him a broad view of the industry, as well as the forces that need to be marshalled to significantly reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions.

At the University of Toronto, Alex teaches Master’s of Architecture students about building performance, low-carbon design strategies and technologies, resilience, and long-term adaptation to climate change.

Outside of this work, Alex, his partner, and their three kids lead an active, cycling-intensive life in Toronto, investing a little extra carbon each year to spend time at the edge of the ocean in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!

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You can read more about this podcast in the podcast’s Show Notes.

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