Build Less, Build Green

As the built environment takes centre stage at COP26, the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and of the industry’s responsibility to address it comes into focus. A recent report from the UN’s Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction shows that the buildings and construction sector is responsible for 38% of global CO2 emissions.

Increasing attention has been paid, in recent years, to emissions resulting from how our buildings are operated: how they are heated, cooled and lit. Those due to the production and supply of building materials and the construction itself have received less attention. And yet, they alone account for 10% of global emmissions.

Much of the sector thrives on a wasteful cycle of demolition and new builds. In the UK alone, an estimated 50,000 buildings are torn down each year. Which begs the question: is building greener really the solution?