Saint-Gobain’s Post

Fulton Hogan is paving the way for more sustainable roading with their new low emissions asphalt - made possible through a retrofit of their Miner's Road asphalt plant with a foaming bitumen bar. This involves heated and foamed bitumen being mixed with other roading materials to produce asphalt. Compared to the standard hot-mix process, the warm-mix asphalt product is estimated to save over 277 tonnes of carbon annually from the Miner's Road site. "Our asphalt and bitumen activities use a lot of energy and contribute around 20% of Fulton Hogan's carbon footprint. The long-term importance of developing lower temperature alternatives should not be understated,” says Fulton Hogan NZ Sustainability Manager, Dale Eastham. The new approach to asphalt means it is produced and mixed at a temperature between 100-150⁰C, instead of the 200⁰C usually required. Further to decreasing the total amount of carbon emitted for Miner's Road, using lower temperatures is an innovation that is highly replicable across the construction industry. The project received co-funding to help get the project off the ground and mitigate the risk of being an early mover. With the new product now commissioned and proven to work on New Zealand's tough roads, Fulton Hogan plan to roll the tech out across the country, further reducing their impact and helping to decarbonise the country's roads in the process.

Challenging the Status Quo: All Roads Lead to a Green Future Just as every road leads to a horizon, every piece of garbage on our highways can pave the way to a greener future. Despite current laws forbidding individuals from picking up litter on highways, we at our foundation are determined to make a difference. We envision a world where we turn highway waste into something valuable. We plan to harvest this overlooked resource and recycle it into building materials using 3D-printing technology. Picture this: Homes built from recycled garbage, turning waste into safe and sustainable housing. Change is often met with resistance, even if it’s for the greater good. Join us on this journey, let’s challenge the status quo together. What’s your take on using recycled materials for construction?

Some excellent Circular Economy conversations in our Wimbledon office last week, exploring how we can shake up traditional material use habits of "make, use, dispose of". #circulareconomy #buildless #buildefficiency #rightmaterials #longtermuse

Absolute sustainability is a oxymoron in a world in overshoot In our current era, the Earth has surpassed its ecological boundaries, with six of the nine critical planetary limits already breached. This stark reality indicates that strategies focused solely on preventing further harm are now inadequate. In this context, the pursuit of 'absolute sustainability,' particularly within the construction sector, is not just impractical but illustrates a significant misapprehension of our environmental crisis. To cultivate a truly enlightened approach, we must accept that authentic sustainability is attainable only through regenerative measures that extend beyond simple equilibrium. We can only achieve a absolute sustainability through net positive, regenerative action deployed at a sufficient pace and scale.This strategy challenges and overturns traditional thought—it is not just about returning to a state of balance within our existing, flawed system, but rather about creating a new framework that ensures enduring stability and health for our planet, an idea I refer to as 'real-world sustainability.' Given these considerations, the notion of 'absolute sustainability' in construction, especially regarding new builds, is rendered illogical. The existing building stock contributes to emissions far exceeding Earth's capacity, by factors of 35 to 66 times what is considered ecologically safe. Consequently, if we are serious about discussing and achieving 'absolute sustainability,' our focus must shift towards the regeneration of our surroundings. This shift involves prioritizing the refurbishment of current structures and ceasing the initiation of new construction projects unless they are grounded in principles of environmental adequacy and designed to address the current state of ecological excess. By adopting this mindset, we do more than just enhance our understanding; we set the stage for a future that is both sustainably viable and regenerative. It's crucial to note that this perspective is not an argument for the downfall of the construction industry. Instead, it's a call for all stakeholders to recognize that the industry has the potential to be a significant part of the solution. To realign our ecological footprint within safe boundaries, an estimated 146 million renovations in Europe alone, are needed within the next 30 years. This massive undertaking underscores the critical role that the construction industry must play in our collective return to a safe operating space for our planet. This is not the end of construction but a pivotal redirection towards practices that sustain both our environment and the industry's future.

Last week I attended a London Property Alliance (CPA & WPA) seminar on Circular Economy, hosted at Nuveen, a TIAA company's beautiful offices in the City – pic is of their amazing green wall! Over the last few months I've attended briefings and presentations about Circular Economy, but none as current as this. It was truly reflective of discussions I’ve been having around Circular Economy with clients, in project design meetings and pre-apps with local authorities. My key takeaways: 🌱 I agree that more needs to be done to grow platforms like Enfield’s Excess Materials Exchange, to allow for effective and efficient exchange of materials in and out of the second hand market, and I wonder whether expansion of these platforms could be supported by CIL money. 🌱 Storage of dismantled materials is a key blocker (particularly in a constrained capital City) to achieving the kind of circularity that will support real change in demolition and construction practices and improve carbon outputs. Without sufficient and well-located storage, viability and programme are hit. Great to hear that the City of London as a planning authority recognise this and are looking to support developers in finding storage solutions.

It's time to talk about sustainability in construction! 🌏 The construction industry plays a crucial role in the global push for sustainability. Innovation in green building techniques, the use of renewable materials, and energy-efficient systems have revolutionized the way we build. Embracing sustainable practices is not only good for the planet but also boosts project efficiency and potential profitability. The journey to a more sustainable future starts with us. Let's take action today and build better tomorrow! 🏘️

Sustainability isn’t just ideal; it’s profitable. But fear holds many of us back. As an example, in the construction sector, these are the facts about green buildings: 1️⃣ Demand for green buildings up consistently (RICS) 2️⃣ Green certifications yield 6.0% rent premium (World Economic Forum) 3️⃣ 7.6% sales premium for green real estate (RICS) For green building projects, green materials and construction methods are needed. Companies can really get ahead of the crowd by - Analyzing the impact of their products (Life Cycle Analysis) and optimize those - Setting up a solid sustainability strategy for short and long term - Innovating totally new approaches (materials and methods) Sure, it takes some guts to start with this, but the rewards are great - even financially. Where did you take the lead and innovated without fear for more sustainability?

Built around sustainability | Across Sweet Projects, our focus is on ensuring that sustainable options are taken wherever possible – with team members and our partners in the supply chain educated on how to achieve this best. In reality, sustainability in action is ramping up as projects progress from design to construction. In one instance, at Longcross in Chertsey, Surrey, sustainable elements that have been designed into the build, before anybody steps on site, include: - A rainwater harvesting system –an innovative and inbuilt design to reduce water consumption and waste throughout the building lifetime. - Eliminating future diesel use – Incorporating gas back-up generators into design, which will also be hydrogen-ready, helping to reduce the carbon footprint. - Encouraging Electric Vehicle (EV) use – provision of EV charging stations/points in the project for charging reliability, and making the site electric vehicle user friendly.  - Creating living walls in design across certain elevations within the building. Andrew Moss, project director at Longcross explains: “As with all our project sites, we take sustainability seriously, and it’s great to see the careful thought and planning of sustainability at the design stage come to life as we progress through the build.” Read more about Longcross here: https://lnkd.in/eDhcyhbx

Work where sustainability and community come first. Big news. Building 4 at Morris Moor is now complete! This 34,000m2  space is an epic example of sustainable construction. With our adaptive reuse program, we were able to retain the historic existing structure, achieve a 92% rate recycled rate of materials and install 460-solar-panel system. The result: 19 million kgs of embodied carbon saved to date. Read all about what this means, and more, in this article by The Urban Developer. 

What can take a buzz word and turn it into a daily reality? Understanding the barriers and enablers of a #CircularEconomy in Aotearoa is what is on my mind By now, many of us in the built environment industry will have educated ourselves on the basic principles at a high level, or at least attended a talk on the topic. But, for us to realise these economies for our communities we need to understand the realities of a circular economy at a project, place & people specific level. I'm talking to where we are at, not in Europe, but here in Aotearoa! Join Amanda Pearson and I in-person on Monday 11th March at WARREN AND MAHONEY in Tāmaki as we represent Aurecon's Sustainability & Climate Change team at Auckland Design Week Ltd. We have whakaaro on: 💡 what can enable circular economies at a project scale 🤝 how to collaborate and have a multi-pronged approach 📢 how do we speak to people to get them on board 💻 what roles data can play ♻ lessons learnt on Better Buildings Partnership, Aurecon's & Green Building Council of Australia new Circular Fit-out Toolkit I'm especially eager to be speaking with Rui Peng from Critical. as we've shared some juicy whakaaro on what it takes to create a circular community in the past. Contributing to a kōrero with Jayden from Anew and Hilary from Phoenix Metalman Recycling will also be a highlight, I am sure. Thanks to Jen Jones at ADW, NZGBC & Aurecon for the support and opportunity. Getting to the nitty gritty of circular economy in an Aotearoa context has been on my Future Thinker bucket list. 3 days to go on applications if you are looking to take on the 2024 role! The full itinerary and link to tickets is here: https://lnkd.in/gaiS9s2G #BringingIdeasToLife #CircularDesign