Sustainability in the built environment

Cradle-to-cradle construction recycles or upcycles materials and re-inserts them into the supply chain instead of disposing of them.

Benefits:

• Increases circularity across the supply chain, from design to decommission
• Reduces carbon emissions at least 15% across material lifecycles

Graphene-enhanced concrete is a lightweight material made with carbon atoms that are extracted from graphite. It’s 25% stronger than standard concrete and less water permeable.

Benefits:

• Eliminates the need for water and steel reinforcement
• Cuts embodied emissions up to 30%

Adoption hurdle: The material is sensitive, so it requires advanced production skills. Toxic chemicals are emitted during production.

Green steel is produced with hydrogen, scrap materials, and electric arc furnaces.

Benefits:

• Reduces embodied emissions ~95%
• Encourages localized production
• Supports the region’s green hydrogen agenda

Adoption hurdle: At current production levels, green steel is cost-prohibitive for most companies. Without economies of scale, it costs ~30% more to produce than traditional steel.

Photocatalysts are added to concrete mixtures to reflect heat from the sun, which improves air quality and helps structures stay cooler. The compressive strength of self-cleaning concrete is 2x stronger than traditional concrete.

Benefits:

• Removes up to 60 mg of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per square-meter of surface area per day
• Helps surfaces appear cleaner and retain their color

Adoption hurdle: Self-cleaning concrete is currently 4x more expensive than traditional concrete.

Heat that’s produced during cogeneration is used to chill water for air conditioning or refrigeration.

Benefits:

• Reduces emissions by up to 60%
• Decreases the amount of electricity that's needed for indoor air conditioning
• Lowers operational and maintenance costs, once established

Adoption hurdle: Installation and setup are costly. Trigeneration relies on green fuels like biomass, which currently limits production.

Energy is generated through the electrolysis of water. Green hydrogen has diverse applications, including energy storage, emergency generation, and transportation.

Benefits:

• Eliminates operational carbon emissions
• Powered by clean and sustainable renewable energy sources

Adoption hurdle: The current efficiency rate is 50%. Until production is scaled in the region, green hydrogen is costly to produce.

Use artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to optimize building operations and dynamically manage energy consumption.

Benefits:

• Increase control over cooling, lighting, and temperature—and improves residents' comfort
• Create energy savings of 10%–40% with smart HVAC, lighting, and thermostat systems

Adoption hurdle: Implementation can be costly upfront. Device compatibility and data security concerns need to be addressed.

Dehumidifier units can extract moisture from air, remove particles and impurities, and convert it into usable water.

Benefits:

• Eliminates water exploitation
• Has lower startup costs than desalination

Adoption hurdle: Water harvesting consumes 6x more energy than desalination plants. However, they can be powered by renewable sources.

Treat wastewater at the source as a nature-based solution.

Benefits:

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions nearly 90%
• Eliminates energy consumption related to distribution (e.g., pumping water to the treatment site)
• Reduces regional reliance on desalination
• Provides a key input for green hydrogen production

Adoption hurdle: New technological skills need to be developed to treat wastewater locally. The practice also needs more social acceptance.

Dynamic façades open and close in response to changes in sunlight.

Benefits:

• Consume ~46% less energy, on average
• Cost less to operate over the longer term

Adoption hurdle: Dynamic façades are more complex to design and come with higher upfront costs.

Photosynthetic microorganisms and microalgae can be integrated into façades to convert sunlight into usable electricity.

Benefits:

• Absorb 10 kg of CO2 per square-meter of façade per year
• Convert 38% of solar radiation into usable energy

Adoption hurdle: These façades may not be cost effective until the technology matures.

Electronic smart glass changes its reflective properties to prevent sunlight and heat from entering a building. The opacity of glass also changes to provide privacy and thermal comfort.

Benefits:

• Blocks up to 98% of ultraviolet rays
• Reduces energy costs at least 20%

Adoption hurdle: The technology is new and relatively expensive to install. Plus, it must be connected to a power source.

Greenery and purifying systems are integrated into building materials to reduce air pollutants around a building.

Benefits:

• Reduce air pollutants by 30%
• Increase protection from solar heat
• Decrease energy costs 51%
• Absorb 41% more noise than traditional walls

Adoption hurdle: The startup costs can be high. Companies also need strong technical skills to operate these façades.

When people are around vegetation such as trees, they experience healthier immune systems and less stress. Benefits to the environment and human health outweigh the landscaping and watering costs.

Benefits:

• Reduce surface and air temperatures
• Improve people’s physical and mental health
• Encourage circularity (e.g., wastewater treatment systems provide water for irrigation and reduce the need for freshwater)

Warm mix asphalt (WMA) is produced at temperatures that are 20°–40°C cooler than hot mix asphalt (HMA).

Benefits:

• Consumes 30-50% less energy
• Recycles into new asphalt
• Reduces embodied carbon emissions by 15%
• Requires less fuel to produce and is faster to install

Adoption hurdle: Because of additives, WMA costs $3-$5 more per ton to produce than HMA.

Charging ports for electric vehicles can be powered entirely by renewable energy sources. Electric vehicle-to-grid connections are easy to install and fast to deploy.

Benefits:

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 86% vs. traditional charging stations

Adoption hurdle: The initial setup costs are high.