Opinion: making a material impact

Tackling embodied carbon requires a holistic supply chain approach, says Ron van Bloois.

The built environment accounts for roughly 40% of carbon emissions. Embodied carbon is perhaps the most difficult to tackle (both in existing stock and newly built assets) and requires a value chain and material lifecycle analysis approach.

Focusing on materialising and measuring the true pricing and environmental impact is key for sustainable decision-making.

Take a simplified example of the use of wood versus concrete as a construction material. Sounds like a no-brainer. But which is truly more sustainable to the world, in the short and longer term?

Are we using (non)sustainably sourced, globally transported, processed and cross-laminated wood with circular re-use potential, or disruptive decarbonised concrete, based on locally, re-used materials and with improved lifecycle performance and better GFA ratios? And what about the valuation models of these building typologies.

Both have pros and cons, and I cannot claim to know the right answer. How do we create a holistic, sustainable, economic model with the right drivers and the best combination of sticks and carrots?

Linear collaboration hurdle

For sure, we haven’t yet been able to change to a circular way of thinking or made the switch to acting collectively on measuring, reporting and financing. It could be that our linear way of collaborating is one of the hurdles that we need to overcome to make real progress.

There are some great instances of collaborative approaches, such as the new taskforce that has been set up by ULI, EPRA and other organisations to develop a comprehensive carbon-pricing strategy for the real estate sector. This gives us hope for the future.

But are we willing to reshuffle the powers in our value chain? Do we finance material banks for asset owning and do we have a proper business case? And are we willing to translate this to adapted legal frameworks with transferred liabilities?

I would encourage our real estate sector to start small, share best practices and try to close the traditional hierarchical gap between asset owners, developers and the material/production chain.

Working on the best solution for each project could save our earth. Sounds like a business opportunity to me, with everlasting impact.

Ron van Bloois is managing editor of Real Asset Impact and  co-founder and chair of the Senior Housing & Healthcare Association