This article was written for CityChangers.org by Irene Garcia, Built Environment Lead, and Michael Shank, Director of Engagement, both with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. In it, they outline a six-step plan – illustrated...
Biobased materials can deliver buildings that are both low-carbon and fit residents’ needs: robust, resilient, and pleasant to be in. They can allow us to ‘partner’ with the natural world too, supporting the forest...
With public demand for sustainability snowballing, it’s inevitable every sector will undergo a green transformation. Construction, however, may not be as advanced as we thought. Max Schade from STROHBOID acts as our guide today,...
As the construction and manufacturing industries undergo a transformation to new and better ways of delivering the built spaces we need, a hidden majority is often overlooked: the sector’s workers. It’s right that we...
We claim a lot of land from the natural world to build ourselves places to live. What if we could construct in a way that works for humans and habitats? That’s the question which...
Sweden’s premier southwestern city Malmö is not only a crowning glory in Scandinavian architecture, nature, and quality of life, but also in sustainability. The city is gaining notoriety as a bastion in new construction...
Digitisation of the construction sector is an important step. It will simplify and streamline material reuse and carbon emission reduction. But this takes brains, cooperation between computing and construction, and a personal determination to...
Public Buildings are essential to every city. They can be the heart of the community, places where neighbours gather, children play and learn, and real life takes place. That’s why it’s even more important...
If the question is ‘how do we build enough to house our growing populations?’, some espouse modern methods of construction as the answer. Although MMC promises cleaner construction and improved comfort for residents, uptake...
Is there a market for recycled concrete? This was such a sizeable question that the EU part-funded a multi-million-Euro project to find out. Leading SeRaMCo, Christian Glock set out to ascertain how construction and...
Traditional construction practices are emission-heavy. Switching to modern methods of construction (MMC) can help mitigate our impact on climate change, but what does that look like exactly? We turned to CityChanger Trina Chakravarti, Project...
Concrete. As a staple of construction, it’s everywhere in our cities. What happens when a building has served its purpose? Could we recover, recycle, and rebuild with construction and demolition waste material? Would that...
One city in Sweden has been getting a lot of attention. The 20-storey plyscraper Sara kulturhus is one example of how notable city Skellefteå is pioneering the realms of wooden construction, but there’s a...
Construction traffic is costly, dangerous and awfully polluting. A promising tool to radically reduce traffic are construction consolidation centres (CCC) or urban logistics hubs. At CCCs, construction materials are stored, traffic in and out...
From lack of planning to a shortage of resources or an absence of imagination when it comes to strategies, there are many reasons why responsible waste management falls through our fingertips. However, with the...
Modular construction is emerging as a quick and reliable way to build new houses. Although these usually conform to a template, rolled out in their hundreds, Michaela Maresch had the guts to rethink the...
Urban development isn’t always about the brand spanking new. It’s all well and good to build new modern constructions, but it’s even more essential to give those run-down, if not abandoned areas some love...
Sustainable construction offers us the means to create durable, desirable cities of the future; places that are socially beneficial, environmentally friendly, and economically viable. With decisive and informed policy, upskilling, and budget-setting, city authorities...