Abstract

In our research, we’ve established a clear case for material efficiency: if we want to cut industrial greenhouse gas emissions significantly, we’re going to have to produce less of the bulk materials. Producing steel and cement alone drives a half of all industrial emissions, a sixth of the global total. Knowing that all cement and a half of all steel is used in construction, we’re trying to make friends with the country’s construction community to explore in detail where the opportunity lies, and what might bring it about. This talk will start with a brief review the work we’ve completed that demonstrates the opportunity to construct and maintain buildings and infrastructre with much less material production. I’ll then present our current attempts to engage in a process of change – through Innovate UK projects close to commercial reality, through collaboration with the Economics faculty, through technology developments, through trying to initiate demonstrator projects, via government strategy, public standards, and through exploring different models of owner and user engagement with construction.