Many elements could be digitised and therefore automated, reducing friction (which causes delay and cost) and streamlining activity from project design through consultation, to planning approval and construction.

Extending a building’s life, or giving it a second life through refurbishment, reduces the need to use yet more building materials for its replacement.Designing adaptable buildings enables the function to change depending on its users’ needs.

If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that workplaces and homes both need to be flexible to account for changing work patterns.It’s a balancing act to make sure a building can be adaptable without over-designing the structure, architecture and MEP.But when we build smarter we can do this.

Repeatable building modules which can be switched in and out depending on requirements, such as glazing vs solid cladding modules, or heating vs heating and cooling fan coil unit modules, are simple features which may prevent a building from being torn down mid-way through its life expectancy.Through a small number of new parts, the building has a whole new lifespan, limiting its embodied carbon when compared with the alternative of a new build.. Building less volume reduces costs, embodied carbon and operational carbon.

And with more thought to whole life performance, low carbon, sustainable buildings can keep delivering benefits even after their lifetimes.

Truly a win-win scenario..At the time of writing, the TRL for carbon capture is still relatively low, at 7 in the validation stage.

It will require international and governmental investment into research to make the process more efficient and faster, and to diversify which materials specifically could be produced from the captured carbon.On top of this, other practical constraints include social acceptance of greener methods, including electricity capacity.

governmental support and policy inclusion, and for uptake in relevant sectors and industries, such as industrial plastic production.C. ontinued research into these technologies, alongside more evidence of cost benefits, may help in incentivising industries to adopt these technologies.. Energy Efficient Plastic Production: It’s a Team Effort.