Going for Zero

Forget the shiny renderings—our path to climate-ready cities starts with what already stands. We talked with architect and preservationist Carl Elefante, author of Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future, to explore how City 3.0 can emerge by reusing buildings, redesigning streets, and resetting our standards of care. Carl breaks down Modern City 1.0 and 2.0, then lays out a hopeful, practical framework for what comes next: reconnecting with community, earth, and place while cutting carbon fast. From Yemen’s wind-wise streets to a D.C. school’s revived induction system, the examples are concrete and transferable. We examine whole-life carbon accounting and why London’s reuse-first policy is a pivotal shift, forcing teams to compare demolition against reuse and reuse-plus-addition. The conversation contrasts durable, maintainable assemblies with fragile, all-glass facades—and explains why the greenest building is usually the one we already have. If you care about sustainable architecture, urban design, adaptive reuse, missing-middle housing, passive strategies, and whole-life carbon, this conversation offers a clear map forward. Enjoy it, share it with a colleague, and tell us what your city should do next. Subscribe, leave a review, and pass this along to someone shaping the built environment today. Show Notes:Further Reading: If the past teaches what does the future learn? Ancient Urban Regions and the Durable Future by John MurphyArchitecture From Prehistory to Climate Emergency by Barnabus CalderMain Street: How a City’s Heart Connects Us All by Mindy Thopsom FulliloveTriumph of the City by Ed Glaeser Sustainable Nation: Urban Design Patterns for the Future by Doug FarrTo help support the show, pick up a copy of the book through our Bookshop page at https://bookshop.org/shop/bookedonplanning or get a copy through your local bookstore!To view the show transcripts, click on the episode at https://bookedonplanning.buzzsprout.com/ Follow us on social media for more content related to each episode: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/booked-on-planning/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookedPlanning Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonplanning Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedonplanning/