Urban development is now one of the main ways that human beings impact this planet – and
our built world currently accounts for 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
But while this may sound alarming, it, in fact, underlines the power that the construction
sector has to make a difference.
The people working and making decisions here quite literally have the ability to decide
what happens next and are now turning the tide on our planet’s future.
From recycled structures and vertical farms, to smog-eating buildings and bringing nature
back into some of the planet’s most notorious concrete jungles – this is how construction’s
brightest minds are working to save our world.
Our cities are now the front line in the battle to sustain our future.
Home to more than 4 billion of us, it’s here that the construction sector’s best
people are pioneering ways to limit mankind’s impact on the planet.
Good urban planning is one of the most effective tools.
While well-planned density can prove very efficient, overcrowding can lead to increased
pollution, poor quality of life and the
Urban Heat Island Effect – a phenomenon that sees built-up areas become much warmer
than their surrounding rural regions.
To combat this, surveyors and planners around the world are now working to incorporate more
trees and green space into our urban fabric – covering heat-holding surfaces like concrete
or tarmac and significantly reducing heat build-up.
Where dense development prevents this, green roofs and trees are now being integrated into
buildings themselves.
Chicago’s Climate Action Plan includes a green roofs initiative that has yielded clear
results, while authorities in New York have converted disused infrastructure like the
High Line into new green spaces and installed planting across a number of rooftops – including
the Empire State Building’s terraces.
But to truly make a difference, project teams are increasingly taking things to the next level.
Since the completion of Stefano Boeri’s landmark “Bosco Verticale” or vertical
forest in Milan in 2014, countless schemes have begun to integrate mature planting in
a much more dramatic way.
While such approaches can reduce urban temperatures and regulate the internal climate of buildings,
they also play a physiological role, improving the well-being of citizens.
Banning cars from city centres can allow trees and buildings to be positioned more closely
together – reducing emissions and heat – while removing or restricting the development of
obstacles along key routes can create “clean air corridors” – like these in Stuttgart,
Germany – allowing pollutants to be naturally “flushed” out of cities.
Despite their challenges, dense urban areas do have some advantages. Compact communities
– where amenities are located closely together – enable surveyors and authorities to encourage
the use of bikes and improve access to public transport, reducing the need for personal vehicles.
Having announced plans to become the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025, Copenhagen
is making progress on many fronts – including transportation.
While low-carbon, easily accessible public transport has been a top-priority, the city
also celebrates cycling and is still expanding its cycling network with new routes and regional
“Super Cycle Highways”.
While high-density can cause issues, sprawl can be just as dangerous for our planet.
As an urban area expands, the distance between the highly populated centres and food sources
on farmland out in rural areas is extended, increasing the need for transportation and
raising the so-called “food miles” of produce.
The concept of “vertical farming” is seen as a potential solution to this. Facilities
like MIRAI’s near Tokyo can be constructed in the heart of urban areas, close to the population.
Powered by renewable energy, they optimise conditions to enhance production
rates and can generate yields that are between 50 to 100 times greater than that of a traditional
crop farm.
At a more fundamental level, authorities are working to prevent urban sprawl occurring
in the first place through planning rules and green belts surrounding cities, while
surveyors, architects and construction professionals are innovatively reimaging sites in city centres,
preventing the need for development to spread.
Recent years have seen concrete silos converted to apartments in Denmark, skyscrapers structures
adapted in Sydney and churches become community centres in The Netherlands, while schemes
like the Slim-House turned a 2.3-metre wide London passageway into a new home.
Cities that sprawl across large areas also place pressure on power grids, increasing
energy demand. In response, surveyors and engineers are now developing “microgrids”
- small-scale electrical networks, powered by renewable energy, that operate at a local
level, independently of the main grid.
At a more granular level – on the specific buildings and infrastructure projects that
make up our cities and societies –, construction professionals are innovating in a number of areas.
Much of our built world is created with concrete, but the production process for this material
now accounts for 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Researchers in Canada have now developed a technique that sees the carbon dioxide arising
from cement production re-injected into concrete mixes while they are still wet – resulting
in CO2 becoming trapped in the material as it cures.
Chemical reactions within the mix
cause limestone nanoparticles to be formed, strengthening the final product and allowing
contractors to achieve their required concrete strengths while using less cement.
Of course, avoiding the use of concrete altogether makes a significant difference. Cross-laminated
timber (CLT) – a structural material sourced from sustainably managed forests – is now
being used around the world.
Requiring just 50% of the energy required to produce concrete and a mere 1% of the energy
needed to create steel, the material is widely seen as a more sustainable building solution.
Taking things further, some structures tackle the climate emergency in an even more direct
way after their completion.
Manuel Gea González Hospital in Mexico City is one such example. Located in one of our
planet’s most polluted cities, the white thermoformed shells on the building’s exterior
are coated in photocatalytic titanium dioxide. This coating reacts with light to neutralise
elements of air pollution, negating the effects of up to 1,000 cars a day according to its developers.
Indeed, while the construction process itself can harm our planet, it is the impact of our
buildings after their completion, during their 60-100+ year lifespans, that currently does
the most damage – and surveyors can play a significant role in changing the effects
of this phase for the better.
Many of the techniques that we have outlined help significantly, especially when combined
with new technological systems that allow us to understand how our buildings are behaving
better than ever before.
The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has turned once static structures into data-collecting
machines. We are now able to determine the best and most efficient ways of operating
a building or structure, based on real-time performance data.
From the Antarctic to New York, many of construction’s best people get up every-day and work to save
our planet, pioneering ideas and working on projects that will benefit future generations.
From surveyors to architects and from contractors to engineers, everyone in this broad and dynamic
sector now plays a role in building a better world.
While many of the innovations shown here are currently being trialled on a city-wide or
project-specific basis, their widespread adoption will significantly reduce mankind’s impact
on our planet, allowing it to recover and thrive.
We want you to be a part of this remarkable industry. We want your skills, your ideas
from that different perspective, your passion. We want your career to make a direct and lasting
difference to the world that we all call home.
Help build the future planet today – step up to construction.
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