Sustainability

Andy Murdoch is a partner at engineering, design and advisory practice Buro Happold The announcement on 30 July by the chancellor Rachel Reeves to cancel several major highway projects and conduct a wider review of ‘unfunded projects’ has had a significant, unexpected impact on road users, local communities and the…

Anya Blanchfield is a sustainability engineer and net-zero consultant at property and construction consultancy McBains, and a BREEAM Assessor, working on decarbonisation assessments of existing buildings The 500,000 buildings on the National Heritage List for England are a vital part of our nation’s cultural heritage. One of the most important…

Hannah Tsurkan is the founder of construction project management company Agora Project Management   As the UK pushes towards its ambitious 2050 net-zero target, the construction and demolition industry stands at a critical juncture. Despite significant progress being made, our sector contributes 60 per cent of all waste in the UK,…

Matt Tallon is sustainability director at FM Conway The idea of circularity is gaining ground in construction and in business generally but, sadly, talk isn’t always translating into action. The Circle Economy Foundation’s 2024 Circularity Gap Report shows that the world is actually going backwards on resource conservation and reuse.…

From bricks made of mushrooms to energy-generating paint, Construction News takes a look at some of the innovative building materials and products set to transform the industry Bio-concrete The Global Concrete and Cement Association says that concrete can self-heal to a degree. But one way to increase concrete’s self-healing ability…

Laura Perrin is a technical consultant at WPS Compliance Consulting Earth Overshoot Day marks the point each year when humanity’s demand for resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. This year it fell on 1 August. Globally, we have depleted the world’s annual resources in just 214 days.…

Rico Wojtulewicz is head of policy and market insight at the National Federation of Builders On 22 July, the Times reported that the government is considering whether development projects will be permitted to secure nutrient-neutrality mitigation during construction, rather than before work begins. While this acknowledges that the existing system is unfair,…

Simon Richards is sustainability director at Sir Robert McAlpine The scale of change needed and timescales involved in a green transition supports the argument that a depoliticisation of sustainability is necessary in order to make our ambitions a reality. Carbon continues to hog the limelight for sustainability – and while…

CN looks into the main parties’ manifestos as the UK general election approaches As the UK prepares to vote on 4 July, how have the main political parties’ manifestos approached the construction sector? Infrastructure The Conservative manifesto criticised “frivolous legal challenges” against big infrastructure schemes, after a five-year term in…

Tim Danson is director of sustainability and energy at consultancy Pick Everard Construction has a pivotal role to play in the circular economy. The industry remains heavily reliant on the use of materials, products and technologies, and is a significant contributor to the 100 billion tonnes of resources consumed globally…