L'impact environnemental des activités de construction ne se limite pas aux émissions de carbone. Les impacts écologiques intrinsèques des matériaux ont des répercussions, tant positives que négatives, sur notre environnement naturel, ses écosystèmes et sa biodiversité. Cette session se penchera sur les impacts liés à l'extraction des ressources, à la fabrication, au transport et à l'élimination des matériaux non utilisés. Quels sont les impacts écologiques des différents matériaux à l'échelle mondiale et comment cela pourrait-il influencer nos prises de décision de manière plus générale ?

Depuis que les architectes Martorell, Bohigas, Macklay et l'ingénieur Peter Rice ont construit en granit le « Pavillon du futur » de l'Exposition universelle de Séville en 1992, qu'est-ce qui a changé dans l'utilisation de la pierre dans les bâtiments modernes ? Au cours des 30 dernières années, l’évolution des systèmes et des technologies a permis le développement de nouvelles typologies de bâtiments en pierre. De la simple brique au système préfabriqué précontraint hautement sophistiqué, la pierre a prouvé sa polyvalence, apportant une réponse efficace aux problèmes urgents liés à la surconsommation d’énergie.

Around half of all building in the UK each year is new build residential by floor area and so significant reductions in embodied carbon the whole construction sector can be delivered via a switch to timber in housebuilding. The sector has historically preferred load-bearing cavity masonry and concrete frames over timber-framing but many developers believe timber is the solution to decarbonising the sector. 

In Scotland timber-framing accounts for 83% of the market and in England it is 23% and growing (1). Setting out to bust myths around the difficulty of delivering timber-framed volume housebuilding developers and consultants delivering this will answer:

• What are the factors that have expanded the use of timber-framing for housing in Scotland? Are they replicable throughout the UK?
• What are the implications for decarbonisation of the overall housebuilding industry?
• What are the options for multi-family apartment buildings available today?
• How can we regulate to support low-carbon structure for new build housing?

Steelmaking has been in transition for over thirty years, moving from higher impact primary steelmaking, to lower impact secondary steelmaking using recycled steel. This session aims to inform attendees of an appreciation of the various manufacturing processes, then along with a good understanding of the local supply chain it’s possible to deliver low impact steel framed buildings today, which can meet demanding embodied carbon targets. But the key to a carbon neutral steel industry is decarbonising primary steelmaking, which accounts for approximately 70% of global manufacture.

Multi-billion-dollar investments are required to achieve this interim goal and transform the way that we make primary steel. A first of its kind CCU plant has been inaugurated in Europe,  ground has been broken on a transformative new hydrogen ready steel plant, strategic acquisitions have been made and partnerships have been formed with the industrial players that can provide the renewable power infrastructure to enable the transition to low carbon steelmaking. But, importantly, it’s also possible to improve the carbon offer of secondary steelmaking too, by embracing renewable energy, XCarb® steel is an example of this.

How do developers and designers choose partners who are really engaged with the Paris agreement and are able to deliver it, moving the steel industry/construction sector forward together toward that common goal? Rather than being just a material supplier, early tender/design collaboration with major developers is already reaping benefits.

Every single day, the UK Construction industry produces enough waste to fill Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Moving towards a circular economy in construction requires whole system change, involving clients, designers, contractors and resource management companies. 

Grounded in the hard reality of commercial delivery of construction, digital solutions and new standards will need to be adopted.  

Using the Construction Waste Portal for performance and resource management in construction projects, SCAPE has set out an ambition to reduce construction waste intensity through its Regional Construction Framework by 50% by 2026. Join our panellists to find out:

• Why cutting waste is the no regret carbon reduction action that every project should take
• How the Construction Waste Portal enables big data obtained from 1000s of completed projects, to transform perspectives and priorities around waste in construction
• How new performance metrics in projects are changing the game
• How the collaborative PAS 402 standard is at the heart of this change
• Why resource management organisations should be included when we talk about early supplier involvement

Facades are the skin of a building playing a role in thermal efficiency, daylighting and aesthetics etc. Improving the external envelope of buildings can be one of the most effective ways to alter a potentially stranded asset and give it a long term future, saving the embodied carbon within the existing building. What considerations should be foremost in the project team’s mind? This session will cover:

• establishing the trade-off between operational and embodied carbon costs of different solutions
• replacement of glazing, thermal elements and cladding materials
• early engagement with contractors 

Mayfield School’s Health & Wellbeing Centre integrates natural materials such as stone and timber in an innovative and sustainable way, with a special focus on the revolutionary use of low-carbon stone brick. Addressing not only the physical and psychological needs of students the building serves as an educational tool on sustainability. Spatial and material considerations result in a design that is warm, protective, and conducive to mental well-being.

Substituting traditional fired clay brick with stone brick delivers an 86% reduction in carbon emissions. The stone brick’s cutting process, powered by renewable electricity, offers flexibility in size and shape, presenting cost-effective solutions for brick specials. Strength and size advantages open doors to larger format units, enabling the use of single stone blocks for lintels and monumental slabs for entrance portals. The stone’s unique chemical makeup provides practical benefits such as enhanced compressive strength, resistance to efflorescence, and superior fire performance.

The carbon savings achieved with the stone brick are substantial, resulting in a reduced overall carbon footprint per square meter. The project sets an example of how sustainable design can be both cost-effective and sustainable. 

There are myriad concrete technologies in development around the world, but the majority of these are at the laboratory stage and not ready to deploy. In this session we cover three of those that have made it to the supply chain: GGBS, limestone fines, and calcined clays.

GGBS is a finite resource. What should developers and specifiers know about making the best use of the limited supply to drive down the carbon emissions of concrete?

Limestone fines and calcined clays are abundant resources. They can be used separately or in combination (as “LC3”) to deliver carbon savings on a similar level to a high-GGBS mix concrete. Some concretes using these can achieve as much as a 50% lower carbon footprint than ordinary “CEM I” concrete. What are the realities of using these products in the UK and what is the potential to scale production to meet demand?

The majority of construction glass goes to landfill because the industry has not established the knowledge and procedures to divert this precious and carbon-intensive commodity back into the supply chain. As with all materials, the journey to reuse starts with identifying the glass within a building to understand what can be accepted as cullet back into the float manufacturers’ furnaces. The panel will guide you through the entire process of assessment, removal and remanufacture illustrated with the first significant examples of construction glass recycling taking place over the next months.

Join the University College of Estate Management to explore the future of materials and go beyond the limitations of a society determined by its technology. While the mainstream narrative places technological advancement within the sector as the magic fix for every and all sustainability challenges, this session will question that rhetoric for a more nuanced approach.

This session will delve into an alternative perspective that considers the historical context of the past, current realities of the present, and future possibilities, exploring:

• Reduce, reuse and recycle
• Heritage materials
• Innovation uptake
• Supply chains
• Buildings as material banks
• Circular economy

Central to our discussion is the recognition of the role of stakeholder’s agency and interests in how we transition to future materials, along with the institutional norms around procurement and investment. We will examine how different agents, whether they are at a niche, regime, or landscape level, shape the trajectory of material choices at various levels of influence and involvement.

From extraction to use, stone is a low environmental impact material. Ready to use, affordable, plentiful and easily adapted for reuse, stone is more relevant than ever.

At the heart of stone construction there is a very low carbon footprint, with no heating/cooking process required, very little water needed, with a nose to tail approach including all the wonky bits for a 100% yield of the extracted material.

Steel is the most carbon-intensive structural material, and it’s all around us. Much of the steel reuse conversation is about salvaging steel from ‘donor’ structures and reusing it for another building. This reduces embodied carbon and material use but still requires demolition and material transportation.

• What if we could avoid demolition, transporting steel and their negative impacts?
• What if we could keep the steel elements within a building and simply move them around to suit a new use?
• What if we could jack up entire floors or facades and raise the bar for steel reuse?

To answer these questions a project team composed of Elliott Wood, Deconstruct, Buckley Gray Yeoman and Simten decided to do the heavy lifting. Join them as they discuss elevating entire floors taking the building from six to eight floors, leading to a 30% increase in floor area, and reducing embodied and transport emissions and materials use along the way.