Building Tradition Episode 30: Interview with Carl Elefante, FAIA

Host Peter H. Miller, Hon AIA interviews Carl Elefante, FAIA, principal emeritus of the award-winning firm Quinn Evans Architects. Listen in as they discuss traditional design, adaptive use, historic preservation, sustainability and practical solutions for the future of our built environment.

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Britney Young Photography

Carl Elefante, FAIA served as Director of Sustainability and Design for Historic Preservation and Community Revitalization for Quinn Evans Architects. He is credited with the declaration

"The greenest building is the one that's already built."

For most of his career Mr. Elefante has practiced and advocated sustainable principals, having managed a number of important adaptive use projects. He served as the President of the American Institute of Architects in 2018 and as a senior fellow with Architecture 2023, an initiative to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.

In his recently published book, GOING for ZERO. DECARBONIZING the BUILT ENVIRONMENT on the PATH to our URBAN FUTURE, Mr. Elefante tells us, "We must rethink the future of historic preservation to address how buildings and cities can help resolve the looming climate emergency."