14 Nov, 2023

Shifting the built environment towards net zero and beyond

As guest editor of Futurebuild's Industry Insider Newsletter, our Executive Director Elwyn Grainger-Jones shared his opinion piece on shifting the build environment towards net zero and beyond.

Shifting the built environment towards net zero and beyond

Opinion Piece

The built environment has an immense impact on the planet, so it’s no surprise that the building industry increasingly finds itself at the center of demands to address climate change. But emissions and climate are just one piece of a much broader puzzle, as this piece examines.

The impacts of the building industry are as large as they are diverse, to the tune of:

  • Representing more than 13% of global GDP

  • Accounting for almost £10 trillion ($12 trillion) in worldwide spending every year

  • Responsible for 40% of global material use 

  • Generating 40% of global waste by volume sent to landfill

  • Contributing 37- 40% of global carbon emissions every year (with 11% of global carbon emissions attributed to just the materials inside the buildings)


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