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Dr. Kimberly Camrass is the Director for the Climate Futures department for the Queensland Government. Kimberly is a passionate sustainability professional, and joins Think.Future to share the highlights of her award-winning essay Regenerative Futures: 8 Principles for Thinking and Practice as applied to precinct scale in an urban environment. Join the conversation as we explore the importance of moving beyond mitigating further harm to the planet, challenging designers to push the opportunity envelope in the design of precincts resulting in both positive environmental and social impacts. To design according to these principles requires a powerful shift in thinking and practice and above all depends on integrating community vision through the art of storytelling, connecting people to place, to nature and to each other. Click here to listen now

Dean D’Cruz, Partner and Principal Architect in MOZAIC conducts workshops and seminars globally focused on sustainable architecture practices. At the core, Dean believes architects can be the change agents for a better Built Environment and he joins the conversation to share how low-cost solutions for sustainable housing are being inspired by regional and cultural influences from the rural villages in India. Requiring less investment in infrastructure and providing a higher standard of 'liveability’, the rural villages of India are demonstrating the benefits of decentralization and potentially shaping the way for the villages of the future. Click here to listen now

With the sound of bells and festive carols in the air and holidays on the horizon, it is an opportune time for a hark back to hemp as the most ‘mature’ renewable material in human history to date. The history of hemp Hemp has existed for centuries, and many poems and songs have been written about its amazing and versatile attributes and applications. Hemp poems and songs can be traced back to the 16th century through the works of Shakespeare and other writers throughout history when hemp was popular before the industrial revolution. Today it still recognized as a versatile renewable product and more sustainable to produce than cotton in that it uses much less water. The poet John Taylor wrote these lines in 1620 pointing out that hemp can bring ‘’pleasure’’. The poem written in auld English suggests that trade ships imported it for exotic use and medicines, but the poem remains ambiguous if it was used for textiles and other industries at that time. ‘’If Hempseed did not bring their commings in, …. Elixirs, simples, compounds distillations, Gums in abundance brought from foraigne nations,’’ John Taylor, 17th Century poet. Global trends in hemp production This article highlights the incredible versatility of hemp and global trends in manufacturing hemp for a variety of products and as renewable building material in the Built Environment. Of all the interesting innovations and materials to choose from, hemp is poised for a variety of applications as a natural, renewable and sustainable material in the future especially since legislation has eased under the demand for sustainable building materials that are safe for people and the environment. McKinsey Sustainability December 2023 review reports that ‘’many of the climate technologies needed to achieve deep decarbonization already exist''. Hemp falls under the McKinsey category of Circular technologies and Circularity and Resources. For a breakdown of the 12 McKinsey's technology categories refer to Figure. 1 entitled A Network of Technologies is required to achieve climate goals. The challenge for the Built Environment is about accelerating innovation and scale-up of renewable materials to achieve technical and commercial breakthroughs. McKinsey's report looks at 12 categories of technology, many ready and applicable in some capacity across the Built Environment. There is a gap however with novel technologies between when they are being tested as a proof of concept until they are mature enough to use at scale. In other words, not all technologies are ready for production at commercial scale. Bridging this gap will require a greater commitment to research and development, government policy support and investment money and can take years depending on the existence and momentum of policy instruments and investment mechanisms. In terms of maturity and readiness of hemp for use at commercial scale, it is now a global venture with a market valued at $4.7 billion. CBD World News reports that the total valuation is expected to increase dramatically by 2025, with a CAGR of 34% taking it up to $26.6 billion. The versatility of hemp The top five producers of hemp are China, Canada, USA, France, and Chile. There are over 20 hemp varieties approved in commercial production in Canada for use in a range of products such as hemp oils, hemp protein powders and help-derived cannabidiol. According to CBD World News, in September 2019, a New Frontier Data report on hemp production in Europe indicated that the European countries produce about 25% of the world’s hemp supply. France alone accounts for over 40% of this volume. Amsterdam’s Hempstory is the first concept store in the Netherlands that has a mission to educate consumers about the versatility of Hemp with a collection of beautiful body products, clothes and furnishings for the home. Similarly, HEMP Store in Australia is advocating HEMP products to support local businesses through buying eco conscious gifts for a more sustainable Christmas. According to HEMP Store, hemp fiber has been relied upon for centuries if not thousands of years as a strong, durable, heavy-duty material that created the sails and ropes of our ancestors’ ships and their clothing too. Some facts about hemp for creating textile: 1. Hemp contains none of the micro plastics and synthetic materials that can cause skin irritations and disruption to our bodily functions. 2. Hemp for textiles, depending on the area its grown, doesn’t require pesticides. This means no harmful chemicals are leaching into the earth to grow these materials. In fact, Hemp returns nutrients to the soil as it’s grown. 3. Cotton needs around 10,000 liters of water to produce just one kilogram of fiber, while hemp requires less than a quarter of the amount of water to grow, at only 2123 liters per kilogram of usable fiber. Since the 2018 Farm Bill was introduced in the US, the hemp production volume has increased exponentially and the market is primarily targeted at manufacturing fabrics, hempcrete, help derived CBD, and textiles. Cannibistech published several articles in 2023 on the application of hemp in product manufacturing from cosmetics, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals to confectionary (sweets) and beverages. Hemp for the Built Environment As we look forward to the new year post COP28, there is an urgency to ramp up investment in renewable technologies to be ready for commercial scale in the Built Environment. There are many innovative materials in development for the Built Environment and Urdesign features 6 trending materials for Architects to watch offering energy efficient features and pleasing aesthetics including polished concrete floors which according to Deign Files, yes you guessed it -concrete floors can be made from hempcrete! In Australia, Hempmasonry is extolling the virtues of hemp as a carbon neutral construction material (hempcrete) suitable for building a better future. Their hempcrete is Australian made and owned, is multi award winning and Green Building Products compliant (BCA compliant). X-HEMP, a hemp fiber processing mill in Tasmania, works with state licensed hemp farmers, converting hemp grain stubble left from the hemp seed harvest into mulch for landscaping, bast for specialty paper production, animal bedding and materials for the Built Environment. ‘’I started hearing about hempcrete buildings, and looking into environmental building products and carbon sequestration. Hemp does so many things that are great, you almost can’t believe it.” Andi Lucas, Founder & Managing Director, X-Hemp In South West Minnesota, hemp is being used to build affordable housing by the Lower Sioux tribe. By April 2024 when construction is complete, the Lower Sioux-also known as part of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota will have a 20,000-square foot manufacturing campus that will allow them to pioneer the manufacture of hempcrete, the first of its kind in the U.S. Grist.org says the initiative will have a positive socially sustainable impact as well with the creation of sustainable housing and jobs. Hark now hear! Harking back to days of old, it is clear that humans have used hemp in many ways for centuries. In my opinion, Hempcrete and other hemp products are a sure thing to hang your holiday hat on for a sustainable future, a hemp hat of course! Have a great holiday everyone and thanks for your patronage in 2023! Authored by Johanne Gallagher, Strategic Lead-Sustainability, ARKANCE (formerly VinZero). “Let’s advance the way we work together to build a better world” – this is the vision that guides success for ARKANCE and its customers. A subsidiary of the French B2B services group MONNOYEUR, ARKANCE was founded in 2018 to become the leading digitalization partner for the construction and manufacturing sectors. Fueled by its innovative ‘Partner to Build Smarter’ strategy, ARKANCE combines its own purpose-built Be.Smart software portfolio and expert professional services with solutions from a network of world-class technology partners. With over 1300 employees spread throughout 50 locations worldwide, ARKANCE is a recognized leader in digital transformation across the construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors.

At COP28, 2023 we are reminded of the words of Gro Harlem Brundtland who in 1987 published the Brundtland report entitled Our Common Future and defined sustainable development as '‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’'. ‘Business as Usual’ is unsustainable According to the Global Construction Industry Report Analysis 2023-2028, the global construction industry is expected to reach an estimated $12.9 trillion USD by 2028, and it is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)of 4.2% from 2023 until 2028 New construction is expected to add an estimated 180 billion square meters of building floor area worldwide by 2050, as published by the Global buildings sector Net Zero Scenario. The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction run by UNEP estimates that in 2022, buildings accounted for 37% of our global greenhouse gas emissions from building materials such as concrete, steel, aluminum, glass and bricks. The Built Environment is responsible today for over 34% of our global energy demand which includes manufacturing of materials used to construct new buildings, and emissions released due to operating existing buildings. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is a powerful uniting framework that can be applied across all sectors in the Built Environment to guide the Built Environment towards sustainability. The FSSD is a 5-level framework, a model for planning and organizing information in complex systems such as a city, developed by Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden in collaboration with The Natural Step in Canada. Level one defines the system being developed, for example a retrofitting a precinct in New Delhi, New York or Sydney or designing a new city in China. The Success level describes what sustainability of the system looks like when looked through the lens of the sustainability principles both ecological and social. Changes in governmental or organizational policy to facilitate medium-term aspirations and long-term vision of cities are paramount to success and guide strategic thinking. The third level is the strategic level which contains strategic guidelines for architects, contractors and engineers to follow in taking innovative approaches towards sustainability. The fourth level describes the concrete actions and strategic decisions taken on the path to achieve sustainability. The fifth level describe the tools necessary to implement decisions and measure performance success along the journey and includes technology such as Environmental Monitoring Systems, Ecological Footprinting, Zero Emission, 3D Modelling, Digital Twins, AI and Life Cycle Assessment tools. Levers for Sustainability The FSSD includes levers for sustainability such as urban design principles to ensure the regeneration and integration of nature (bio urbanism and permaculture), circular economy approaches (circular built environment playbook) as well as regulation, policy and procurement strategies towards a vision of success. It can be applied on any scale, from a house to precinct to city and guides sustainability thinking and decision making during the development process. Success is measured and reported via an ESG reporting framework. The Power of Procurement Bob Willard of Sustainability Advantage emphasizes the impacts of Government/public sector procurement when they stipulate sustainable criteria in their tenders for construction or big infrastructure projects. When big buyers give significant weight to sustainability-related attributes of both suppliers and contractors, and their goods and services, businesses pay attention. ‘’The buying power of sustainable procurement is an untapped market force that can engage companies in the race to net-zero GHGs. When incentivized to improve their own environmental and social impacts, businesses will meet the growing demand for ethically sourced, climate-beneficial, sustainable products. They innovate more sustainable products and adopt more sustainable business models because their big customers use sustainable procurement which make those attributes matter. Follow the money.’’ The future is in our hearts, minds and hands Sustainability is the result of all these inspiring strategies, levers and innovations but most importantly, sustainable development in the built environment is about creating a beautiful place to live, one that is healthy and harmonious with nature and offers a thriving future for all life for generations to come. Authored by Johanne Gallagher, Strategic Delivery Lead-Sustainability, ARKANCE (formerly VinZero) as a contribution to the #BuildingTOCOP Coalition and World Green Building Council Thought Leadership. “Let’s advance the way we work together to build a better world” – this is the vision that guides success for ARKANCE and its customers. A subsidiary of the French B2B services group MONNOYEUR, ARKANCE was founded in 2018 to become the leading digitalization partner for the construction and manufacturing sectors. Fueled by its innovative ‘Partner to Build Smarter’ strategy, ARKANCE combines its own purpose-built Be.Smart software portfolio and expert professional services with solutions from a network of world-class technology partners. With over 1300 employees spread throughout 50 locations worldwide, ARKANCE is a recognized leader in digital transformation across the construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors.

ARKANCE proudly contributes to World Green Building Council’s Water Publication premiered at COP 28. November 15, 2023, World GBC and their global network of Green Building Councils, partners and expert reviewers launched their innovative publication ‘Building a water-resilient future’. The publication will be presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in Dubai by World GBC. In partnership with the WorldGBC’s global Circularity Accelerator programme, ARKANCE is proud to have contributed to the development of the publication aimed at the building and construction sector, laying out the magnitude of the challenge whilst providing opportunities on how we can change the course. ‘’Infrastructure resilience and sustainability are critical in positively shaping the future of water. The technology already exists. There is no lack of resources, the solution lies in competent leadership, efficient stakeholder engagement processes and acting collaboratively in taking a whole systems approach to solutions, in time. We must come together to design, build, and solve our infrastructure challenges and ensure that our future means we all have clean and safe water for life.” - Johanne Gallagher, Strategic Delivery Lead — Sustainability, ARKANCE Read press release Earlier this year ARKANCE contributed to the development of the publication entitled The Circular Built Environment Playbook presenting market-leading circular principles and strategies in action, calling on the building and construction sector to accelerate the implementation of circular and regenerative principles.

Brad Searle is the Head of Development at BINGO Industries. Brad joins the VinZero Think.Future podcast to share the innovative and impressive progress BINGO Industries is making in supporting the circularity and decarbonisation agenda for the Built Environment. BINGO Industries is focused on transforming the recycling and waste industry, particularly in innovating to increase recycling rates and the diversion of valuable waste materials from landfill and maximising the circular value of recovered products. Through strategic partnerships, Brad aspires to develop a circular economy model for reuse, repair, remanufacture, and repurposing, in return for significant environmental and economic benefits. BINGO Industries has an inspiring vision of a waste free Australia, underpinned by their ‘never say never’ mindset. Click here to listen now

Bob Willard, Founder and Chief Sustainability Champion of Sustainability Advantage, is a leading expert on quantifying the business value of sustainability strategies and a dedicated BCORP advocate, prioritizing both people and planet. In this interview, he delves into the crucial mindset necessary for effectively addressing sustainability within the construction and infrastructure sectors, particularly in project procurement practices. He emphasizes the possibility of integrating profit and purpose by illuminating the demand side of procurement and how this can drive essential changes. Bob addresses the hindrances affecting the global achievement of net-zero targets, the market dynamics propelling sustainability, and stresses the significance of government procurement processes in shaping the market, and the importance of the Science Based Target Initiatives in upholding global governance. Click here to listen now

With a long-standing history serving sustainability outcomes Cox Architecture is seeking to maintain the livability of cities amidst rising temperatures and extreme weather. Join in the conversation as Dr Matthias Irger unpacks the factors that drive urban heat and create heat islands at a localized level. An experienced architect with a PhD is Sustainability Urbanism, Matthias is Head of Sustainability for Cox, overseeing its practices for sustainable design and planning. Through his role as Senior Research Fellow and Industry Adviser at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Matthias is actively engaged in bridging science and design practices. Join us as we explore how architects, urban designers and planners can mitigate urban heat and design for nature and comfort through connected design principals. Click here to listen now

Sustainability in the Built Environment World Sustainability Day is an opportunity to reflect on what sustainability in the Built Environment means. It is also a good time to be reminded of the impact of sustainable development in the Built Environment and the principles that drive it towards sustainability. In 1987, the 29th Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland published the Brundtland report entitled Our Common Future and defined sustainable development as '‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’'. ‘Business as Usual’ is unsustainable In the Built Environment, the global construction industry is expected to reach an estimated $12.9 trillion USD by 2028, and it is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)of 4.2% from 2023 until 2028 according to the Global Construction Industry Report Analysis 2023-2028. Matthew Black from World Green Building Council contributed to the VinZero Think.Future podcast and pointed out ‘’there are 255 billion square meters of buildings existing in the world and a city the size of Paris is constructed every week’’. New construction is expected to add an estimated 180 billion square meters of building floor area worldwide by 2050, according to the Global buildings sector Net Zero Scenario. With the global population expected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, doing business as usual means that our natural resources cannot possibly keep up with our growing demand. It is clearly unsustainable to continue in the linear model of take, make and waste. The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction run by UNEP estimates that in 2022, buildings accounted for 37% of our global greenhouse gas emissions from building materials such as concrete, steel, aluminum, glass and bricks. The Built Environment is responsible today for over 34% of our global energy demand which includes manufacturing of materials used to construct new buildings, and emissions released due to operating existing buildings. Tipping points According to the Global Footprint, we are close to the planetary tipping points. Professor Johan Rockström proposed that the planet has planetary boundaries that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth System. His research from the Institute for Climate Impact shows there are tipping points and if you push the system too far, you risk crossing the tipping points which lead to self-amplifying drift in the wrong direction. This means that if we push the earth past these tipping points, we will not experience earth's cycles and patterns as we did before. Scientists say that the planet will try to stay in equilibrium or balance resulting in the uncharacteristic swing in weather patterns we are witnessing on a regular basis. Professor Rory Nathan explains the changing patterns in simple thermodynamic terms, ''the air gets warmer, and the atmosphere has the capacity to store more water’’. Essentially that means there is more rainfall and all the extra heat in the atmosphere is changing the weather patterns. ''In fact, storm rainfalls that pose a threat to life and property are expected to increase between 15% to 40% by the end of this century. Projected increases in rainfall are heavily dependent on the rate at which we can reduce our emissions in the near term.” The Impact of the Built Environment The Built Environment puts tremendous pressure on the natural system; building sustainable cities are our biggest challenge and therefore offer the greatest opportunities for innovation and creativity. Anne Kovachevich, Sustainable buildings and precincts leader at Mott MacDonald says ‘’we need to stay within the 9 planetary boundaries in order to maintain life on earth. The planetary boundaries framework sets an upper limit that can’t be transgressed. If we transgress this boundary we will end up in a zone of uncertainty where we’re unclear about their effects on human life.’’ The definition of a sustainable society A sustainable society is defined as one that lives in balance and harmony with nature, and the natural cycles of the Earth. In a sustainable society there are 4 planetary system conditions that must be met to ensure that the earth can sustain all of life perpetually. Essentially, in principle it means that society needs to eliminate our contributions to: 1. the systematic increase of substance extracted from the earth’s crust (for example, heavy metals and fossil fuels) 2. the systematic increase of concentrations of waste materials and substances produced by society (for example, concrete, plastics, VOCs, PVC and DDT, electronic waste, battery waste) 3. the systematic increase in physical degradation of nature and natural processes (for example, over harvesting of old growth forests, destroying natural habitat and overfishing); and 4. conditions that systematically undermine people’s capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example, erosion of human rights, unsafe working conditions and not enough pay to live on). Social sustainability has been further defined by Dr. Merlina Missimer as social principles where people are not subject to structural obstacles to health, influence, competence, impartiality and meaning-making. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development Rethinking and innovating the foundations of all materials used in the Built Environment and the resources required to produce them for our cities is a very complex challenge. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is a powerful uniting framework that can be applied across all sectors in the Built Environment to guide a city towards sustainability. The FSSD is a 5-level framework, a model for planning and organizing information in complex systems such as a city, developed by Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden in collaboration with The Natural Step in Canada. Level one defines the scope of system being developed, for example a retrofitting a precinct in New Delhi, New York or Sydney or designing a new city in China. The second level or Success level describes what sustainability of the system looks like when looked through the lens of the sustainability principles both ecological and social. Changes in governmental or organizational policy to facilitate medium-term aspirations and long-term vision of cities are paramount to success and guide strategic thinking. The third level is the strategic level which contains strategic guidelines for architects, contractors and engineers to follow in taking innovative actions towards sustainability. The fourth level describes the concrete actions and procurement decisions taken on the path to achieve sustainability. The fifth level describe the tools necessary to implement decisions and measure performance success along the journey and includes technology such as Environmental Monitoring Systems, Ecological Footprinting, Zero Emission, 3D Modelling, Digital Twins, AI and Life Cycle Assessment tools. Levers for Sustainability The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development includes levers for sustainability such as urban design principles to ensure the regeneration and integration of nature (bio urbanism and permaculture), circular economy approaches as well as regulation, policy and procurement strategies towards a vision of success. It can be applied on any scale, from a house to precinct to city and guides sustainability thinking and decision making during the development process. Success is measured and reported via an ESG reporting framework. Dr. Matthias Irger, National Head of Sustainability, COX Architects talks about finding the missing middle when applying urban design principles. ‘’One of the most interesting areas we have to think about in urban design is density. If urban density is too low and increases heat during the day, we can increase density. If urban density is too high on the other hand it will trap too much heat. Finding the 'missing middle' as we talk in architecture often about is one of the key ingredients.’’ Circularity is not a new concept; however, it is rebounding in modern times as a powerful strategic lever towards sustainability. It is accelerating the Built Environment towards a more sustainable future whereby consumption and waste is reduced allowing the earth a chance to renew its natural resources. The World Green Building Council released the Circular Built Environment Playbook, a useful resource to accelerate progress towards sustainability in the construction and engineering of buildings. Catriona Brady, Director of Strategy and Development at World GBC shared her vision for circularity and says ‘’There is a huge need for policy to be able to overcome some of the challenges with circular economy that we've talked about before we do need regulation to be able to mobilize things like the market for secondary materials.’’ World GBC are in the process of creating a publication on the role of water at different scales in the Built Environment. The publication is intended to promote opportunities to be more efficient with water used in supply chains; construction processes; buildings; and cities. The Power of Procurement A powerful lever that has been mostly overlooked is sustainable procurement. It is an opportunity that when fully embraced, can drive sustainable development even further and faster. To date most of the attention has been given to the supply of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and very little attention has been on reducing the demand for fossil fuels. Sustainable procurement does that by favoring suppliers who commit to reducing their greenhouse gases (GHGs) to net zero by 2050. Bob Willard of Sustainability Advantage discusses the market forces around procurement in his white paper 21st Century Sustainable Enterprise Force Field. He emphasizes the impacts of Government/public sector procurement when they stipulate sustainable criteria in their tenders for construction or big infrastructure projects. When big buyers give significant weight to sustainability-related attributes of both suppliers and contractors, and their goods and services, businesses pay attention. ‘’The buying power of sustainable procurement is an untapped market force that can engage companies in the race to net-zero GHGs. When incentivized to improve their own environmental and social impacts, businesses will meet the growing demand for ethically sourced, climate-beneficial, sustainable products. They innovate more sustainable products and adopt more sustainable business models because their big customers use sustainable procurement which make those attributes matter. Follow the money.’’ Ryan Roberts, Head of Sustainable Construction at Holcim is a systems thinker and strongly supports the circularity of buildings and reuse of construction materials such as asphalt and concrete. Ryan talked about a rating tool that adds value to waste. In 2022, Holcim released the Circular Cities Barometer in collaboration with Bloomberg, that looks at different criteria of cities. Ryan says ‘’ cities are the engines of the built environment and learnings can be shared where other cities might be excelling and scaled across the global network and so it’s really a systems level rating tool we are looking at. A change in policy all the way through to actions (such as updating retrofit regulations and recycling of construction and demolition waste materials) is really key to tracking how a city is tackling issues for both people and the planet.’’ The demand to procure greener materials drives innovation. Ryan proudly shared the recent news about Holcim’s innovation in green cement, ECOPlanet that uses more than 20% recycled construction waste directly into the manufacture. Ryan says ‘’it is a world first and it really is a game changer because the CDW replaces the clinker which is the carbon intensive part of cement. It’s building new buildings from old buildings with less Carbon dioxide’’. Designing for Sustainability and Resilience One of the biggest challenges is shifting the mindset towards designing for sustainability and resilience. Jason Howden, former Principal and Digital Innovation Leader at Warren and Mahoney says ‘’The steel and concrete buildings that we've created are wonderful structures. We don't need to tear them down and put them in landfill. Instead, we should peel them back and refresh them for a new life, a new purpose for the next fifty years’’. He added ‘’when we're creating our designs using the BIM processes from the get-go and start to include metadata inside the digital objects that, essentially becomes the prototype of the built thing that will come later. And some of that metadata might be information on how to deconstruct a building or the order that you might deconstruct a building’’. Innovations and actions for change Cement, concrete, steel, wood and glass are used to build our cities. Manufacturing processes for these materials are hard to abate, meaning hard to capture or reduce carbon emissions to zero simply because innovation of these materials has not been challenged until now. Market forces are putting the lens on supply chains and procurement which is driving research and innovation of these materials. The message is simple, if organizations do not listen to the markets demand for low carbon, low energy, sustainable building materials and products, they will soon cease to exist. Clare Tubolets, CEO of Smart Crete CRC challenged the construction sector to rethink the foundations of the Built Environment and offered insights into innovations that reshape our approach to concrete making for some 8% of global emissions. ‘’We at Smart Crete CRC are creating new innovative concrete mixes with innovative new materials and additives as well as new ways to use our concrete in building’’. Clare explains about how they make sustainable concrete mixes during her conversation Rethinking the foundations of our Built Environment with VinZero. Carbon Capture There is new technology for Carbon Capture applied directly at the reaction site for cement available now. Daniel Rennie, CEO of Leilac, says ‘’a large cement plant emits at least one million tons of CO₂ per year. Between now and 2050, modelling suggests that about 1.400 Gtons per year will need to be captured at cement plants globally.’’ Leilac is fulfilling that demand and is poised to deliver a step change in the cost, and efficiency of capturing CO₂ emissions, for the cement and lime industries. Using Calix’s novel process enhancement technology, Leilac is doing it in a way that is affordable. The success of the projects and potential of this technology led to the creation of Leilac as a standalone company from Calix offering a promising solution to combat this hard to abate sector. To learn more, listen to Danniel explain how the technology works in this podcast The Foundation for Society (vinzero.com). Sustainable Construction According to Professor Charles J. Kibert, sustainable construction focuses on six principles: ‘’conserve, reuse, recycle/renew, protect nature, create nontoxic and high quality’’. One of the best ways to practice sustainability in construction is to use materials that protect the environment and reduce the carbon footprint of the buildings that use them. Bamboo, recycled materials, laminate timber, precast concrete, and stone are the top five sustainable building materials according to the article on sustainable construction. An Autodesk construction blog reports that 40-50% of total flow of raw materials in the global economy is used in the manufacturing of building products and components, adding significant amounts and energy and greenhouse emissions to the life cycle impact of buildings. Digital Builder offers 10 sustainable construction materials to build a better future including bendable concrete, bamboo and mycelium. Sustainable materials are often renewable, derived from nature and are harmless to the environment. Nature's way Markus Roselieb is an Architect and Principal at ChiangMai Life Architects and ChiangMai Life Construction and wins awards around the world for the use of bamboo or ‘natures hidden steel’ as a sustainable building material. When asked what excites him when he thinks future about sustainability using bamboo, he said he is always looking for opportunities to expand the application of bamboo and natural materials. ‘’We need to do things that enhance the change in thinking. We do not need to ravage the earth for more steel, and for more concrete all the time because materials like bamboo are already there and can do most of the job. We are the ones that have to prove that. We have the responsibility, we have the opportunity, and we have to be as creative as possible.’’ The future is in our hearts, minds and hands Sustainability is now embedded in the collective vision and is the result of all these inspiring strategies, levers and innovations but most importantly, it is the ability to think and design creatively with love in our hearts, while respecting the boundaries of the natural system. Sustainable development is about creating a beautiful place to live, one that is healthy for all life, and offers a thriving future for us and our children we can be proud of for generations to come. Day by day, as we think future, we are inspired to create solutions that take us closer to the vision. There is a lot to do yet but on World Sustainability Day, let’s celebrate just how far we have come. Authored by Johanne Gallagher, VinZero Sustainability Development Advisor, ANZ About VinZero (an ARKANCE company) For over 20 years the brands under VinZero, an ARKANCE company, have been providing software solutions and professional services to Architectural, Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing industries helping them to understand the role of digitalization for the built environment. Businesses both large and small utilize VinZero’s dedicated industry experts to help navigate technologies as they emerge, driving efficiency and improving workflows. With a global focus on reducing emissions and increased focus directed towards industry, VinZero are now turning their attention to providing the linkages between using technology to digitize, and at the same time leveraging the valuable data insights it brings to build more sustainably. VinZero are passionate about helping their customers understand how the technologies they use today can help them to step towards net zero in the future, to build a better world.

Markus Roselieb/Architect and Principal, Chang Mai Life Architecture. Join in the conversation as award-winning architect and bamboo enthusiast, Markus Roselieb, delves into the incredible world of bamboo. As Principal at Chang Mai Life Architecture, a firm at the forefront of utilizing bamboo in groundbreaking architectural designs, Markus shares his passion for this remarkable material with a higher tensile strength than steel. Markus shares the story of their awe-inspiring Panyaden International School, where the natural curves and irregular structures, created from bamboo, enhance the environment and touch people's hearts. Listen as Markus highlights its beauty, strength, and importantly, its negative carbon footprint. As he eloquently puts it, bamboo is akin to a "steel cable" when harnessed effectively through sustainable harvesting and innovative design. Discover the potential of bamboo as a material that resonates with the human soul, embracing a brighter, more sustainable future. Click here to listen now

Hollie Hynes, General Manager of Sustainability and Environment and Georgina North, Head of Technology and Innovation at Laing O’Rourke join Vinzero Think.Future to share their expertise and insights into the art of what’s possible in leading innovation and excellence in construction and engineering. Join in to hear how value is unlocked within their business supply chain as Hollie and Georgina challenge stakeholders to push boundaries and open a portfolio of creative and innovative possibilities. Click here to listen now

Catriona Brady is the Director of Strategy and Development at the World Green Building Council and manages global programmes for the World Green Building Council network, consisting of 77 national member councils who represent a combined network of 46,000 member organisations. Her areas of speciality in the green building field include circular economy, health, equity and resilience, and she oversees both the 'Circularity Accelerator' and 'Better Places for People' programmes at WorldGBC. Listen as Catriona shares her passion and vision for circularity and explains how the circular economy model is a powerful lever in the supply chain and is part of a broader whole systems approach to sustainable development in the built environment. Click here to listen now