The housing construction sector needs to convert existing buildings and use more bio-based materials, such as wood and bamboo, to reduce its growing CO2 emissions, which already account for 37% of the world’s total, said a UN report released to meet this Tuesday.
The report, carried out by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA), highlighted that globally urbanization is advancing so rapidly that so many buildings are built around the world every five days . like those that already exist in Paris. This pace of construction is causing the construction sector to currently be responsible for 37% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, although that proportion is increasing.
The director of UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division, Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, stated that emissions are increasing in part because in many countries traditional construction materials are being replaced by others with a higher environmental cost. “Until recently, most buildings were built using local materials such as earth, stone, wood and bamboo,” she explained when presenting the report.
“But modern materials like cement and steel often only give the illusion of durability and end up in landfills, contributing to the growing climate crisis,” Aggarwal-Khan added. The report suggests a three-pronged strategy for eliminating CO2 emissions, one of which is to avoid waste with the conversion of existing buildings, which reduces emissions by between 50 and 75% compared to the construction of new ones. structures. .
The second proposal of the authors of the report is the replacement of materials such as cement, steel and aluminum with renewable and biological products, such as wood, bamboo and biomass. And finally, the report points out that when materials cannot be replaced by renewable and biological alternatives, it is necessary to improve the production process of cement, steel, aluminum, glass and bricks.
Aggarwal-Khan, one of the researchers, believes that if governments put in place “appropriate policies, incentives and regulations” following these guidelines, the construction sector can reach zero emissions by 2050, according to the statement.
