According to the 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Building Climate Tracker (GBCT) indicates that the buildings and construction sector remains off track to achieve decarbonization by 2050.

The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction run by UNEP estimates that in 2021, buildings accounted for 37% of our global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes manufacturing of materials used to construct new buildings, and emissions released due to operating existing buildings. The Built Environment is also responsible for over 34% of our global energy demand.

New construction is expected to add an estimated 180 billion square meters of building floor area worldwide by 2050, according to the Global buildings sector Net Zero Scenario, therefore the time to act is now. Matthew Black, Programme Coordinator of World Green Building Councils Advancing Net Zero programme shares some startling insight,

"When we consider the number of buildings under construction at any one time, a city the size of Paris is constructed every week’.

Ben Evans, Federal Legislative Director for US Green Building Council, says the most sustainable thing to do is to ‘’stop digging the holes”.

A strategic approach to sustainable development

The retrofitting of existing buildings is a strategic approach to sustainable development despite the various challenges. Ben added,

‘’It is a huge task that needs to be divided into existing and new buildings’’.

Ben explains that the trends we are starting to see in the construction of buildings are increasingly driven by climate change; the demand for better indoor air quality; resilience to storm damage; and equity to make sure that buildings are holistically designed to be climate change ready, accessible, and available to everyone in community, putting the UN Sustainable Development Goals into practice.

There is a growing emphasis on the health benefits of green buildings with respect to air quality and lighting and the general ‘nature positive’ aesthetic, with proven benefits in mental health and wellbeing for occupants. At the Green Cities conference in Sydney in March 2022, John Mandyck, Chief Sustainability Officer of United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in the United States said ‘’green buildings improve the cognitive function and productivity of occupants’’, citing research sponsored by UTC and conducted by researchers from Harvard University, the State University of New York (SUNY), Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University.

The World Green Building Council Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment signed by 171 leaders from private and public sectors set two goals for the Built Environment;

- By 2030 all new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have at least 40% less embodied carbon with significant upfront carbon reduction, and all new buildings will be net zero operational carbon.

- By 2050 all new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have net zero carbon and all buildings, including existing buildings must be net zero operational carbon.

The barriers to retrofitting and net zero

Nigel Tonks, Director at Arup says

‘’One of the barriers to scaling net zero buildings is the absence of an agreed standard for what is a net zero building, leaving the property sector vulnerable to greenwash’’.

To scale decarbonization of buildings quickly, data is essential. In 2021, Arup committed to gathering detailed data about their global building design project portfolio and began analyzing it using whole life cycle assessments. This technique quantifies the emissions generated over the entire building lifespan, from ‘’cradle’’ to ‘’grave’’.

Paul Laycock, CEO, VinZero says "data is the new currency for net zero and represents one of the biggest opportunities for achieving a sustainable Built Environment. Data insights enable better choices and greater efficiencies, and bring systems, processes, workflows and people together to collaborate for a better built result".

The most sustainable building is ironically, the one not built

The World Green Building Council Circularity Accelerator Program was recently launched to focus on ensuring the Built Environment can be repurposed, recycled, and reused to the greatest extent possible. Repurposing, or adaptive reuse, to revitalize and repurpose the old, historic or obsolete assets is an emerging trend. Another term used recently in the sector is the idea of refreshing or ‘re-life-ing’ buildings, giving them a new lease of life, fit for purpose to meet the social, environmental, and economic needs of community and business in the 21st Century.

Collaborating towards Net Zero

Collaborative conversations about overcoming the sustainability challenges in the Built Environment are happening daily. Cooperative Research Australia (CRA) for example have several dedicated collectives, Cooperative Research Centers, focusing on different aspects of efficiency for the built environment. CRA provide funding helping facilitate conversations and research to explore sustainable alternatives and approaches to building materials and construction.

Correct asset management optimizes and prolongs the life of building materials such as concrete. CRC Concrete is exploring the use of sensing devices to monitor the degradation rates and assess the life of concrete. Through collaborative research, they develop new and innovative ways to prolong the life of the material. Clare Tubolets, CEO of SmartCrete CRC points to Quay Quarter Tower as one of her favorite examples of how research and engineering was applied using a whole sustainability mindset.

Architects 3XN feature Quay-Quarter Tower as a template for sustainable use and says the building is "hailing in a new era for its genre in Australia and beyond”. The company is celebrating its achievement calling it ‘the world’s first adaptive reuse skyscraper’. QQT holds the title because rather than demolish and rebuild the 40-year-old bones, the skyscraper was upcycled, retaining 60 % of its existing structure. Now it stands proudly with its new façade and building services and doubled floor. The QQT is essentially a new state of the art structure, a vertical village with a world class integrated technology ecosystem and design intelligence that promotes human interactions and smart technologies. It is considered a zone of diversity, creativity and connectivity that totally changes how people work while connecting community to place.

The project blends old and new and reuse of materials resulted in a huge saving of 7,500 tonnes of embodied carbon using the existing structure. The Fifth Estate reported BG&E buildings lead NSW, Vince Betro explaining how the existing structural condition was tested, assessed and validated by the latest rejuvenation and sustainability techniques, improving solutions that could extend the buildings life by another 50 or 60 years.

Growing trends towards urbanism

With the increasing commitments to climate action, the adaptive reuse market will thrive. A growing trend towards urbanism, restricted by land availability will further accelerate the industry shift towards re-life-ing. Under the Paris commitments, it will become a 'necessity' , rather than a 'case study'. Urban neighborhood demographics and dense populations are prime locations for repurposing historic buildings which have a unique character and appeal that naturally create inviting and engaging spaces that connect people to place.

A holistic approach to success

Sustainable development enables cross value chain collaborations. It is about balancing the needs of society and business within the boundaries of our planet, by collaborating and sharing, drawing on our collective strengths toward achieving a vision of living in harmony, beauty, and thriving together. And some of this is achievable without digging any more holes.