Going Beyond Net Zero

The sobering realities of climate change require the architecture industry to radically transform the way we approach design — to think beyond the immediate boundaries of our projects to broader interconnected social and ecological systems. Together, we need to go beyond the homeostasis of sustainability toward design that yields net positive benefits.

At HDR, we have a long history of earnestly embracing challenges faced by our industry. We were early signatories of the AIA 2030 Challenge, and our entire design portfolio is currently achieving a 57% energy use reduction beyond the baseline. Over the past several years, we have worked with our clients to go even further by adopting and creating regenerative design strategies that reposition the built environment as part of the solution in this crisis.

What is Regenerative Design?

Broadly defined as design that reconnects humans and nature through the continuous renewal of evolving socioecological systems, regenerative design works towards renewal-focused solutions to realize net-positive impacts, considering the interconnectedness of environment, equity, and health. When embraced at the project level, regenerative design can move outcomes beyond basic high-performance goals toward net-positive impacts across seven categories.

Our Framework in Action

Six Strategies for Regenerative Park & Recreation Environments

Understand how context, capital, healthy living, community engagement, out-of-the-box programming, and change management inform the design of regenerative outdoor spaces.