This explains why Paris is coloured with the warm cream grey of the limestone from the quarries below its surface; why the Dutch live in homes built in brick made from the clay of the delta they inhabit;5 and why the traditional architecture of Sumatra and Java uses teak wood – a tree once abundant on these islands. [...] This too consumed increasing volumes of concrete and steel and delivered benefits to billions of lives: 67% of people now have access to clean sanitation7 and 50% have access to public transport.8 Critical for the transitions of the 21st century Four megatrends are expected to put substantial new demands on the built environment in the decades ahead.9 As growth in the number of households outpaces. [...] Greenhouse gas emissions Figure 1: Built environment emissions At 40% of the global total, the built environment is the compared to the world’s carbon budget largest end-use sector in terms of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.15 It is also the fastest- growing consumer of materials.16 88% of the growth is in emerging markets. [...] The harvesting equipment and method used, the (sustainable) forestry practices of the replanted tree, the period over which the timber is used and the end of life treatment all have significant impact on the net lifecycle GHG emissions from timber, and therefore the question whether it has higher or lower emissions than (decarbonised) concrete and steel. [...] Initiatives exist across each of the levers described in Section II, but the collective progress is underwhelming, in particular in the markets in the Global South where most of the growth in floorspace and infrastructure is projected to take place.
Authors
- Pages
- 31
- Published in
- United Kingdom
Table of Contents
- Report covers (Document (A4)) 1
- 240805 Construction materials note - vFin2 2
- Main insights 2
- Table of contents 4
- About this paper 5
- Acknowledgements 5
- I The need to reinvent the building materials industry 6
- What lies ahead for the sector 6
- Building materials: foundational to our way of life 6
- Critical for the transitions of the 21st century 6
- Implications for the operating model of the sector 7
- Greenhouse gas emissions 7
- Flying under the radar 8
- II What it takes to decarbonise building materials 10
- Material efficiency 10
- Substitution with lower-carbon alternatives 11
- Lowering the emissions of producing the remaining concrete and steel 11
- Who needs to make this change 13
- A more regenerative built environment 13
- III The barriers to overcome 15
- The decarbonisation gap 15
- Five barriers 15
- A. Low awareness and weak demand signals 16
- B. Lack of widely agreed net-zero definitions and transparency 16
- C. (Perceived) challenging economics 16
- D. Supply chain fragmentation 17
- E. Technology gaps 17
- IV Next steps to bring building materials to net zero 19
- Interventions by investors and developers 19
- Long-term demand signals 19
- Double down on what can be done today 20
- Policy interventions 21
- Supply chain level interventions 22
- Completing the picture 22
- Raising awareness 23
- Increasing transparency on carbon performance 23
- Appendix A: How Systemiq supports this transition 24
- Appendix B: The debate around timber 26
- Points of agreement 26
- Contested and unclear points 26
- Endnotes 28
