This article is part of a blog series on building sustainable constructions, introducing adequate processes and best practices to design, build, and operate your assets.
Total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were 41.6 billion tons in 2024, up from 40.6 billion tons in 2023. This includes fossil CO2 emissions of 37.4 billion and the rest from land-use change (deforestation).
At the 1994 COP26 summit, attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% to reach the ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
The construction sector is responsible for approximately 38% of global CO2 emissions, with 28% from building operations and 10% from the construction industry itself.
Construction companies and governments must change their mindset about sustainability. They may want to reduce carbon emissions, optimize energy consumption, and generate profitable growth.
Some new materials are still in development, but others on the market already exist and are affordable. For example, concrete is one of the biggest sources of CO2 emissions in construction. By using self-repairing concrete, you can reduce the amount of maintenance required. This will help save on materials, time, and effort. In the long run, this will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions.
Another issue with concrete is that it does not allow water into the ground. Groundwater levels are very low which is bad for the environment. Permeable concrete can help with this by allowing rainwater to soak straight through it, rather than inundating the sewage system; preventing flooding.
Using green building techniques like renewable energy processes and material recycling processes can improve sustainability.
To reach net zero by 2050, construction companies and governments should take initiatives as shown below.
Fitting insulation and air-sealing methods may reduce energy consumption.
Installing solar panels and geothermal systems may help diminish a construction's carbon footprint and incorporate sustainable practices into every stage of the construction process.
Innovating new products and services in clean energy may reduce decarbonization.
Governments offering incentives and imposing penalties may motivate the sector to build and operate sustainable buildings.
Here are some initiatives they already implemented to motivate companies in the industry to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The strategy is to double the annual energy renovation rates of European Union (EU) buildings in the next 10 years. To achieve their goals, they have budgeted hundreds of billions in subsidies over the next five years for climate-friendly construction and renovation.
EC proposed climate law to boost demand for optimizing and modernizing the construction and operation of buildings.
The $2 trillion Build Back Better spending framework announced in 2021 appropriates $555 billion for clean energy investments. The framework offers tax credits, rebates, and other incentives to encourage companies and consumers to go green.
The whole construction value chain should consider where to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the construction process and operations of the builds. Here are some ideas on how it could be done.
Finding new materials and products like wood composites to improve or substitute for conventional materials and products such as steel and concrete.
Wood composites have a higher load-carrying capacity than traditional materials. They are less ponderous and are electrical and heat resistant. They offer higher insulation ratings, making them more energy efficient.
Wood is sustainable as it can be regrown and reduces CO2 emissions by 15% to 30%.
To decrease carbon emissions during the design and planning phase, architects and planners look for low-energy operational consumption products that can be recycled during the disassembly of a building.
Adaptability to new methodologies with the flexibility of construction type, using less CO2-intensive materials, and sourcing standardized, local materials, with a long lifespan are recommended to streamline building design, construction, maintenance, and demolition processes.
During the construction and in-use phases:
Suppliers using modern technologies will reduce fossil fuel consumption and, when possible, move to renewable energies.
Distributors may optimize transportation movements.
Contractors may decrease fuel consumption by using a cloud platform like procore to leverage data management systems, and streamline their operations.
According to an EY analysis, 70% to 80% of unused construction materials are wasted. By reusing or recycling waste, contractors may significantly reduce the amount ending in landfill.
For example, damaged timber could be re-used for wood flooring material, reducing CO2 through circular material models. A recycling center in Retznei, Austria, processes 130,000 tons of waste materials in the construction and the demolition phases annually, of which 70% are recycled or reused, while 30% are used as back-filling material for a quarry.
Companies in the construction industry can form partnerships, either legal or informal, allowing them to accelerate emission reductions within the organization and across the ecosystem to access innovative technologies, share business models and talent, and reduce investments.
These partnerships could create great opportunities for these companies to generate profitable growth and differentiate themselves in the market using decarbonization strategies.
Using technology helps construction companies to be more sustainable and profitable by making it easier to choose green materials and use less energy. Risk must be evaluated before implementing recent technologies. Below are some examples:
Sichuan Province, southwestern China, wanted to develop the Chengdu-Yibin Expressway a smart construction initiative that aimed to be a modern road hub, ecological, and accessible.
The brief to the Sichuan Road and Bridge (SRB) company that was awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract was that they would get a budget of 24.6 billion yuan.
Creating a smart highway includes the integration of artificial intelligence in a cooperative system of vehicle infrastructure and completing the project within three years.
The highway must span over 155 kilometers, have 154 bridges totaling 39.7 kilometers, and include four tunnels covering 7.3 kilometers. It must also include 17-grade interchanges and five service areas along the route.
The planning process was difficult due to the lengthy and complex construction of the bridges, resource allocation issues, coordination problems amongst dozens of subcontractors, construction planning, and management.
Using BIM methodology and reality modeling, SRB was able to use 3D models for digital inspection and simulation which identified more than 103 potential design issues.
BIM saved 4.5 million yuan in costs associated with construction site changes adopted.
The technology helped them to solve more than 14 potential line-of-sight problems.
They saved 7 million yuan in construction costs.
They reduced the construction period by 124 days. Which saved 6 million yuan in production costs.
They reduced the land acquisition and the environmental impact of the project.
Thanks to BIM, they improved process efficiency by more than 50%, production efficiency by over 20%, and modeling efficiency by 15%.
Offsite construction and BIM have many benefits, including:
Nick Milestone, Operations Director at Sigmat claims they have embedded Sig-Dek, their decking profile product, into the Tekla BIM library. He said:
Having access to this product further enhances accuracy. Achieving this level of accuracy in virtual design and construction (VDC) processes allows Sigmat to achieve zero waste with offsite construction. Additionally, the correct material quantities are always ordered thanks to automatic quantity take-offs, and no rework is required due to detailing or fabrication errors.
The embedding of Sig-Dek can help to deliver:
Combining automation and technologies like robotics, smart building materials, the Internet of Things (IoT) for data collection, and artificial intelligence for analysis can reduce waste, increase safety, improve efficiency, find new and more efficient ways of constructing, get higher profitability, and be more effective and environmentally friendly.
For instance, by using predictive analytics tools you may identify potential risks in a project, eliminate design errors, avoid costly reworks, and reduce waste.
Implementing sustainable technologies presents challenges like high investment costs, new knowledge that requires hiring more people, and regulatory obstacles.
How could you overcome these challenges?
Spending time identifying potential subsidies from local or national governments and making sure you invest in the right technology can produce long-term savings on things like reduced energy bills, and increased durability of the project.
Automation and robotics require different skills that can be acquired by investing in staff training, hiring people with green building technique experience, and incentivizing employees to get new skills using a reward system.
Artificial intelligence developments bring technological solutions to the construction industry with the potential to improve worksite efficiency, data quality, and overall innovation that carries legal risks that must be investigated, evaluated, and addressed before implementing these solutions.
Investing in sustainable technologies can result in long-term cost savings, such as improved insulation and energy-efficient windows, or using renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines to generate power. These can help businesses significantly reduce their energy bills and reliance on traditional utilities.
Partnering with universities to innovate in products and services may help your clients, building owners, and operators, to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption to reach net zero carbon construction by the due date.
Implementing decarbonization solutions may generate profitable growth.
Innovations may involve energy-efficient systems like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, plumbing, and building envelopes (walls, windows, roofs, and insulation).
For example, offering new services during construction like using electric equipment rather than fossil fuel-powered machinery would reduce your CO2 emissions. It is also possible to offer new products like energy-efficient insulation materials to reduce long-term energy use by the building.
Automation and system integration using cloud platforms and business model innovations combined with holistic services and solutions may improve a building’s operational performance and enhance the comfort of the users.
A certification to prove energy conservation awareness of the construction like LEED certification may be obtained for both new building construction as well as existing buildings and spaces.
Automated bulldozers and excavators or robotic arms for construction projects can reduce fuel consumption and lower emissions, reducing carbon footprint over time.
Renewable energy sources like solar power for lighting and machinery can decrease reliance on fossil fuels.
These initiatives could help improve your company’s public perception by prioritizing environmental responsibility when purchasing.
They may increase loyalty to your brand and customer retention rates by enhancing the sustainability and profitability of your builds reducing waste and improving energy efficiency.
Streamlining your processes like monitoring usage and tracking product lifecycles reduces consumption of non-renewable resources, reducing emissions and environmental impacts.
Introducing automation and digitalization in your company can improve:
Achieving net zero by 2050 will give you a significant competitive advantage.
Do not wait to develop strategies and business models that will get your clients one step closer to achieving that ambitious goal.
All you may do is make the wise decision to invest in technology to improve sustainability and profitability, yield costs and environmental savings, and increase efficiency while reducing your generated carbon footprint for years.
Take our Technology appraisal diagnostic, to find out the best way to insert BIM and modern technology in your workflows, move your organization to cloud computing so you can open up new possibilities for your daily planning tasks and make sure your data never leaves the optimally secured data center.
The technology appraisal report helps you explore what investment is required to improve your projects’ sustainability, productivity, and collaboration, as well as the ROI you can expect.
Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now
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