We are excited to share that Henson Architecture’s Cory Rouillard has been featured in the March edition of Precious, a Japanese luxury lifestyle magazine for her work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. At Henson, we aim to promote climate leadership through historic preservation and appropriate energy retrofits to ensure comfortable living for future generations.
A special thank you to Miho Hayashi for the English translation below. Read the original Japanese translation here: https://precious.jp/articles/-/38968
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My Action for SDGs
“Historic preservation/restoration is the key. Continue to use existing buildings to reduce carbon emissions.” | Ms. Cory Rouillard
Precious magazine presents a series focusing interest on the actions of people who are trying to achieve a sustainable world for our future. In the March edition, we introduce you to Ms. Cory Rouillard who is a Registered Architect and LEED-accredited professional. She works at an architecture firm and is actively involved in both historic preservation and sustainable building design. We interviewed her about how she approaches building restoration for people to live comfortably in the long run.
Cory Rouillard
Registered Architect, LEED
She studied architecture in college. After graduation, she became a Registered Architect. She also earned her LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) accreditation. She takes a leadership role in various activities for the prevention of climate change.
Historic preservation/restoration is the key. Think about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the big cities.
Henson Architecture, where Ms. Cory works, has been receiving awards for projects focused on both preservation and sustainable design for historic buildings. They are currently working on a townhouse built in the 19th Century. They are restoring the existing building by keeping the same materials and forms as much as possible, so that people can live comfortably for a long time into the future.
“The reality is, about 40% of carbon emissions globally are created by buildings. There are 2 types of carbon emissions. One of them is ‘operational carbon’ which is created by such as air conditioning and lighting. Another is created by transporting construction materials, constructing a building, repairing it, and eventually tearing it down. 70% of carbon emissions are from the buildings in cities like New York. Continuing to use (Taking care of) existing buildings as long as we can, will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions.”
After graduating college, she devoted her career to the architecture world for 20 years. There is a story behind why she pursued getting involved with old buildings rather than a new design.
“I was an elementary student. In a suburb of New York, they were cutting down trees for haphazard land development. I felt so awful as a child. An internship in historic preservation during my college years also lead me to my current job.”
Along with colleagues, she has been very active with political outreach to help push the conversation about climate change. She also hosts panel discussions, symposia, and workshops as an expert committee chair. Ms. Cory feels strongly there are increased opportunities for architects to take a leadership role in SDGs.
