ASHENEWS reports that every five days, rapid urbanisation takes place worldwide as the world adds buildings equivalent to the size of Paris.
This was contained in a report published on Tuesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA), under the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC).
According to the report titled “Building materials and the climate: Constructing a new future” points that building less by repurposing existing buildings is the most valuable option in reducing embodied carbon emission.
It states that by generating 50-75 per cent fewer emissions than new construction; repurposinh existing buildings promote construction with less materials and with materials that have a lower carbon footprint and facilitate reuse or recycle.
The report further offered policy makers, manufacturers, architects, developers, engineers, builders and recyclers a three-pronged solution to reduce “embodied carbon” emissions and the negative impacts on natural ecosystems from the production and deployment of building materials like cement, steel, aluminium, timber, biomass.
The three prong solutions include avoiding waste through a circular approach, creating a shift to ethically and sustainably sourced renewable bio-based building materials, including timber, bamboo, and biomass and improving decarbonisation of conventional materials that cannot be replaced.
The report showcased studies from Canada, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Peru, and Senegal demonstrating how decarbonisation takes places using “Avoid-Shift-Improve” strategies.
It also made recommendations on how developed economies can devote resources to renovating existing ageing buildings, while emerging ones can leapfrog carbon-intensive building methods to alternative low-carbon building materials.
The Director of UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division, Sheila Aggarwal-Khan noted that, “Until recently, most buildings were constructed using locally sourced earth, stone, timber, and bamboo. Yet modern materials such as concrete and steel often give only the illusion of durability, usually ending up in landfills and contributing to the growing climate crisis.
“Net zero in the building and construction sector is achievable by 2050, as long as governments put in place the right policy, incentives and regulation to bring a shift the industry action.”
The growing worldwide decarbonisation of the electrical grid and the use renewable energies are set to cause an decrease from 75 per cent to 50 per cent of the sector in coming decades.
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The Deputy Director General for International Climate Action and International Energy Transition of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), Dr. Vera Rodenhoff said that the decarbonisation of the buildings and construction sector is essential for the achievement of the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
“By providing cutting-edge scientific insights as well as very practical recommendations to reduce embodied carbon, the study ”Building materials and the climate: Constructing a new future” advances our joint mission to decarbonise the sector holistically and increase its resilience”, she said.
The International Climate Action and International Energy Transition of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), alongside the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funded the study.
