Industry tackles climate change with wood, Lego-style bricks, new materials

The problem of stolen roofing in Turkey may seem like an unlikely starting point for a new way to withstand earthquakes and tackle the environmental problems of the construction industry, but when a Turkish businessman heard about a new material that prevented theft, it sparked an idea. .

Cast iron is traditionally used to make covers that protect drainage systems. But in 2010, a spate of thefts of scrap metal covers in Turkey meant that an alternative with an equally strong material had to be used to secure them. And when Engin Yesil read about this very strong compound in the news, he wondered if it could be used to build earthquake-resistant buildings – significant risk in Turkey.

Yesil began manufacturing a composite known as Renco (a.k.a. “renewable composite”) made up of up to 40% recycled materials, including resin and fiberglass. Since 2011, more than 200 buildings have been built in Turkey using Renco blocks, which fit together like Lego bricks and are secured with glue.

Yesil wondered if Renco had potential in the US, and after more than a decade of research and testing, Renco was used to build an apartment complex in Palm Springs in 2023.

Along with being able to withstand catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes (the highest rating Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and a growing phenomenon due to climate change), Renco says is greener than other building materials. The construction sector is “by far” the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of any sector. According to a 2023 UN reportmaking up 37% of world emissions.

Renco weighs 80% less than concrete, meaning more can be transported per truck, and it also contains 82% less carbon than structural steel, according to a report. Athena Institute of Sustainable Materials Commissioned by Renco. Carbon in the body refers to the emissions released during the manufacture, transport and disposal of construction materials.

Renco is also 100% recyclable, according to Patrick Murphy, managing director of Renco USA. He said the new composite marks a step change in construction materials. “In construction, there’s basically three ways to build, right? You’ve got concrete, steel and wood, and that’s basically been the same for 100 years … so this is actually the fourth way of building that’s been accepted,” he told CNBC. video call

This year, Renco will begin manufacturing in the US for the first time, and in the coming weeks will open a factory in Florida that can produce enough blocks for about 9,000 average-sized apartments.

As with other materials used in construction, Renco is not without environmental impact, as blocks are currently being shipped from Turkey to the US while the Florida factory is being finished. And, while Renco’s Turkish manufacturing is powered by renewable energy, about 12% Electricity generated in Florida comes from nuclear power plants.

Building in wood instead of steel or concrete can achieve a 19% reduction in emissions, according to a 2024 report. Study conducted by the University of Arkansaswhile a 2023 UN report It urged the construction industry to switch to bio-based building materials such as sustainably sourced wood and brick to decarbonise the built environment.

“The idea that we can build from renewable materials has become increasingly important to us,” said Andrew Waugh, founder and director of Waugh Thistleton. “And the more you do it, the more you realize that it has health and wellness benefits, that people are actually much happier and healthier surrounded by natural materials than they are surrounded by polystyrene ceiling tiles and…wall panels (wall panels).”, Waugh told CNBC via video call.

But the UK has been slow to adopt wood as a building material, which Waugh finds “frustrating”. Around 60% of waste produced in the UK comes from the construction industry 2022 government reportWaugh, on the other hand, expresses this wooden construction creates little waste there. Again, building with wood is not without its environmental concerns: the wood used in Waugh Thistleton’s projects is often transported from Europe.

It is another phenomenon caused by climate change rising ocean levels — simultaneously with the sinking of the earth.

In the independent coastal state of Monaco, known as the playground of the wealthy for its low taxes, a newly built “eco-district” known as Mareterra has put sustainability at its heart. “With climate change, building on water will become a strategic approach for certain coastal areas,” Guy-Thomas Levy, managing director of Soussan Mareterra development, told CNBC in an email. The development aims to be a “model” for how coastal cities can grow responsibly, Levy Soussan added.

During construction, a technique known as the “caisson” method was used, where 27-meter-high reinforced concrete structures were built in the French city of Marseille and floated to Monaco in order not to disrupt marine life. Along with acting as flood barriers, they are habitats for marine organisms, Levy Soussan said.

So-called “eco-reef villages” were also built. Consisting of more than 300 modules, they were installed in the marine area where the development is located. Ecological ‘corridors’ mean fish can reach villages, while a protected species of seagrass called posidonia was relocated to provide an ecosystem. These eco-measures will be monitored for at least a decade and the Monaco government will use the insights to guide future marine projects, said Levy Soussan.

The UK Green Building Council It has called on the British government to go beyond environmental targets for new homes, and in Singapore, for example, the government has added proposals to include older buildings in the Mandatory Energy Improvement scheme. Previously it focused on new buildings or those that were undergoing a lot of renovation.

Murphy said the industry will “need” to reduce emissions. “The industry has flown under the radar in a lot of ways, hasn’t it? People talk about airplanes and cars and cows, you know, a lot of other… emissions. A lot of people don’t realize how bad cement is and how bad it is. it’s the built environment.”

Embodied carbon has been the focal point US Environmental Protection Agency and construction company Skanska USA developed a tool, known as EC3, to help construction projects quantify their emissions.

Steve Clem, Skanska USA Building’s senior vice president of project planning and sustainability, said the tool has encouraged some suppliers to reduce their embodied carbon.

When Skanska was evaluating concrete companies for a large project in Seattle, it showed each company how their materials performed in terms of embodied carbon, using EC3. “When different suppliers saw how their blends stacked up against each other, they voluntarily took steps to improve their blends at no cost to the consumer,” Clem told CNBC via email.

The Vice President is positive about the future. “The construction industry is doing more for sustainability now than at any other time in history, or at least since the industrial revolution… The hope for the future is that sustainable construction is the norm and more people can live, work and play in carbon-free buildings,” he said. said Clem.