In a Building Environment op-ed, “Material Technology at Crossroads,” Jan-Maurits Loecke from CRTKL offered his insights on how cutting embodied carbon will soon become an issue for the industry and how designers can start to prepare now for these changes.
“It is time to face the facts following COP27. The built environment continues to be one of the largest contributors to climate-damaging emissions, while exploiting non-renewable materials and energy sources, consuming areas of untouched green field, leaving behind plastic and demolition waste. Although political frameworks and policies are addressing carbon emissions, embodied carbon needs to be considered with urgency,” adds Loecke.
He continues, “Embodied carbon will be regulated soon and the industry is only beginning to understand the complexity of material emissions. As these occur during sourcing, manufacturing, transportation and demolition, the whole lifecycle has to be assessed, as does our current throwaway culture. To date, buildings are mostly developed to last 40 to 60 years. The harmful cycle of demolition and rebuilding needs to be broken. With the climate protection goals of the Paris Agreement still in reach, the industry needs to show greater accountability, commitment and transparency.”
Read the full Built Environment Article by Jan-Maurits Loecke