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Around the world communities are facing more frequent and impactful hazard events. According to the United Nations between 2000 and 2019 over 4 billion people were impacted by more than 7000 disasters (almost twice the disasters seen in the prior decade). The built environment is at the core of protecting lives and livelihoods while also making significant contribution to the emissions driving climate change.
New construction is expected to add 2.5 trillion square feet of building area worldwide over the next 40 years. It is estimated that to meet the UN’s 2015 climate change targets by 2050, carbon emissions emitted from construction must be 80-90 percent lower than they are today. Globally an ever growing number of companies are recognising changes in technology, regulations, and consumer behaviours and preferences are challenging the status quo and are calling for a greater lever of global and local collaboration.
Achieving sustainability and resilience requires a holistic approach with leadership and engagement from all sectors.
In response, The Alliance for National and Community Resilience (ANCR) and VinZero have aligned with a shared leadership, vision, and expertise to advance community resilience to bring attention to the need for multi-sector approaches in meeting societal challenges.
Communities across the globe are facing increased exposure and impacts from disaster events and need the tools to effectively understand and manage risks. ANCR is the leader in developing the tools communities need to identify current social, organizational, and infrastructural resilience and to identify pathways to improve. The ANCR Community Resilience Benchmarks® play an important role in helping leaders understand, communicate, and address these risks. The state of a community's built environment is a significant contributor to its resilience. Building in sustainability and resilience is essential to assuring communities can survive and thrive.
VinZero is a technology partner of choice for leading AEC, Construction and Manufacturing companies globally. VinZero has a focus on bringing together knowledge and advice from around the world to deliver a thought leadership framework to lead customers and partners on a digital pathway towards netzero.
With over 400,000 subscribers across AEC and Manufacturing, and a substantial global footprint VinZero can provide a platform for education and conversation at scale across industry to support ANCRs focus on building for future generations in the face of climate change. Bridging the gap between the role of digitalization, and the importance of data in driving net zero outcomes across the build environment.
"Achieving community resilience requires a holistic approach to understanding vulnerabilities and identifying solutions. VinZero's experience in delivering comprehensive solutions to the AEC and manufacturing community will bring a valuable perspective to ANCR's initiatives." Ryan Colker, ANCR Executive Director
Both ANCR and VinZero recognize the importance of safe, sustainable and resilient communities and the need for tools and resources to help drive progress. ANCR brings together public and private sector leaders from multiple disciplines to develop and deploy solutions. VinZero's expertise in delivering holistic solutions in turn brings valuable insight to the ANCR Community Resilience Benchmarks®.
The building and construction sector is one of the largest in the world economy with around $10 trillion spent on construction-related goods and services every year. However, it is also one of the most energy-intensive polluting industries on the planet, responsible for a reported 38 percent of CO2 emissions, 23 percent of air pollution, 40 percent of water pollution, 50 percent of landfill waste, 21 percent of the depletion of natural resources and 40 percent of energy usage.
Still, adoption of technology and more sustainably focused building practices are moving at a much slower pace than required to meet the COP 26 2050 net zero targets. Steeped in a traditional manual approach to construction, and slower than all other industries to adopt and embrace technology, coupled with a perceived lack of alternative materials, and higher costs associated with these, the current state suggests that whilst regulating is having an impact more awareness and engagement is needed by industry overall.
"Education is key, industry leaders need to reach out and engage and inform their customers on alternative, more sustainable and resilient materials and building practices, the drive needs to be two-way, business to consumer, and consumer to business" Says Paul Laycock, CEO, VinZero.
Working together, ANCR and VinZero will share information and education to industry on alternative approaches to drive demand and adoption. Paul Laycock continues "Increased demand will directly influence cost to manufacture and encourage governments to offer financial support for manufacturing 'in country' to mitigate supply chain issues, lowering supply costs to consumers. In turn this will directly affect consumer uptake on sustainable processes and practices. It always comes back to consumer demand."
According to the 2021 World Green Building Trends report despite widely published results on the impacts of the built environment on carbon emissions, only 31%of those surveyed across industry would be driven to implement green buildings based on it being the’ right thing to do’ . This is suggestive that whilst regulating is having an impact, more awareness and engagement is needed by industry overall.
Ryan Colker shares "Education and awareness is critical to increasing demand for sustainable and resilient buildings and driving industry towards net zero. VinZero and ANCR together hope to change this."
One thing is certain, change is coming. Consumers are demanding it, the industry is calling for it and the environment needs it.
ANCR and VinZero call on organizations across the built environment to join them in helping realise this vision. Learn more